JACK.  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 


JACK, 
THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 


A  BOY'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  ROCKIES 


BY 

GEORGE  BIRD  GRINNELL 

Author  of*  Pawnee  Hero  Stories?  «  Blackfoot  Lodgt  TaUs?  Etc. 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1899, 
BY  FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


Nineteenth  Printing 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE. 

FAR  away  in  the  west,  close  to  the  backbone  of 
the  continent,  lies  the  sagebrush  country  where  the 
happenings  described  in  the  following  pages  took  place. 

The  story  is  about  real  things  and  about  real  people, 
many  of  whom  are  alive  to-day.  The  ranch  lies  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  a  great  basin,  walled  in  by  moun- 
tains on  every  hand,  and  7,50x3  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea. 

The  life  there  was  exciting.  There  was  good  hunting 
— antelope  and  elk  and  bears  and  buffalo  ;  and,  far 
away — yet  near  enough  to  be  very  real — there  were 
wild  Indians, 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  review  those  days  in  memory. 


M23448 


CONTENTS 


I.  Jack  Danvers I 

II.  Prairie  Wolves  and  Antelope II 

III.  The  Road  to  the  Ranch 21 

IV.  A  Grizzly  Killed 30 

V.  Roping  and  Riding 37 

VI.  An  Ancient  Massacre 49 

VII.  Hugh  Chased  by  Indians 62 

VIII.  Jack's  First  Antelope 72 

IX.  John  Monroe,  Halfbreed 89 

X.  Cows  in  a  Snow-drift 98 

XI.  Jack's  First  Elk 107 

XII.  Antelope  Kids...., 116 

XIII.  Jack  Kills  a  Lion 125 

XIV.  Wolves  and  Wolf-hounds 136 

XV.  Digging  out  a  Wolfs  Den 148 

XVI.  Birds  and  their  Nests 157 

XVII.  Hunting  on  the  Mountain 167 

XVIII.  With  the  Horse  Roundup 180 

XIX.  Busting  Broncos 194 

XX.  A  Trip  to  Smith's  Hole 206 

XXI.  Jack's  First  Campfire 214 

XXII.  A  Load  of  Blacktail 225 

XXIII.  Occupations  of  a  Cripple 236 

XXIV.  A  Berrying  Party 245 

XXV.  An  Elk  Hunt 254 

XXVI.  Jack  Rides  a  Wild  Horse 263 

XXVII.  A  Mysterious  Cave 274 

XXVIII.  What  the  Cave  Held 285 

XXIX.  SwiftfootinNewYoik 397 


JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 


CHAPTER  I 

JACK  DANVERS 

THE  door-bell  rang,  and  from  the  library  Jack 
heard  the  soft  tread  of  Aunt  Hannah,  as  she  walked 
through  the  hall  to  answer  it.  There  was  a  mur- 
mur of  voices,  and  then  Hannah's  tones,  loud  and 
high  pitched :  "  Guns !  no  indeedy,  chile,  ye  can't 
leave  'em  here.  Not  here,  chile.  Take  'em  away. 
No,  I  don't  keer  if  they  is  Mr.  Sturgis'.  Go  'way. 
I  won't  take  'em.  Gib  'em  to  the  policeman ;  ye 
can't  get  me  to  tetch  'em.  Go  'way." 

"  What  is  it,  Hannah?  "  said  Jack,  as  he  went  to 
the  door. 

"  Don't  ye  come  here,  honey.  This  man  here, 
he's  got  some  guns  he  wants  to  leave.  Says  they're 
for  your  Uncle  Will.  Don't  ye  go  near  'em." 

"  These  are  two  rifles  that  Mr.  Genez  has  been 
sighting.  Mr.  Sturgis  told  him  to  deliver  them  here 
to-day,"  said  the  messenger. 

"  All  right ;  give  'em  to  me,"  said  Jack,  as  he 
took  them  :  and  the  messenger  ran  down  the  steps. 

I 


a        JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"  Oh  look  out,  honey,  look  out,"  said  Aunt 
Hannah,  shrinking  away  from  Jack ;  "  they'll  go  off 
and  kill  you,  sure." 

"  Pshaw,  Hannah,"  said  Jack,  "  what  are  you 
talking  about  ?  "  They  wouldn't  go  off  of  them- 
selves, and  anyhow  they  ain't  loaded." 

"There,  what  'd  I  tell  ye?"  cried  Aunt  Hannah. 
"  Do  be  keerful.  Many's  the  time  I  heard  your 
grandpaw  say  them's  the  most  dang'ous  kind.  He 
allus  did  say  that  it  was  the  guns  that  wan't  loaded 
that  went  off  and  killed  folks.  'Deed  he  did." 

Jack  took  the  guns  up  to  his  uncle's  room,  and 
put  them  on  the  bed,  and  went  back  to  the  library. 
He  had  hardly  got  there,  and  gone  to  the  window 
to  look  out  into  the  darkening  street,  when  he  heard 
the  front  door  close  and  a  quick,  light  footfall  in 
the  hall. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Will,"  he  said,  "is  that  you?" 

"  Hello,  Jack,  are  you  there  ?  "  was  the  reply.  "  I 
want  to  speak  to  you,"  and  a  moment  later  Mr. 
Sturgis  entered  the  room  and  stepped  over  to  the 
fireplace. 

"  Well,  Jack,"  said  he,  "  are  you  ready  to  start  in 
to-morrow  to  be  a  cowboy  ?  " 

"Yes,  Uncle  Will,  I'm  all  ready,"  was  the 
reply. 

"  You're  sure  you  don't  want  to  back  out  now  ? 
You  know,"  added  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  that  you  may  see 
some  rough  times.  Some  days  you  will  be  wet  and 
cold  and  hungry,  and  will  wish  that  you  were  in  a 
good  house  and  by  a  warm  fire,  with  a  hot  meal 


JACK  DANVERS  3 

ready  for  you.  It  isn't  all  fun  and  play  and  good 
times  out  on  the  ranch." 

"  I  know  that,  Uncle  Will,"  answered  Jack,  "  but 
there  must  be  plenty  of  fun,  too,  and  I  think  I  am 
going  to  like  it." 

"  I  believe  so,  too,  my  boy,  but  I  want  you  to 
remember  that  there  are  two  sides  to  almost  every- 
thing. You  will  have  lots  of  fun  on  the  ranch,  and 
that  is  what  you  think  most  of  now,  but  you  must 
remember  also  that  it  will  not  be  all  pleasure  and  no 
pain." 

"  Why,  Uncle  Will,  don't  you  suppose  I  know 
that  ?  A  fellow's  bound  to  be  too  hot  or  too  cold 
sometimes,  and  to  hurt  himself  now  and  then,  but  I 
guesj  I  can  stand  it,  and  I  don't  think  you  need  feel 
afraid  that  I'll  want  to  come  home  before  I  have 
to."  As  he  said  this,  Jack  looked  quite  injured,  and 
stood  very  straight. 

"  No,  no,  my  boy.  I  don't  doubt  your  pluck ; 
but  I  want  you  to  understand  well  before  we  start 
what  it  is  that  you  have  to  look  forward  to. 

"  Now,"  continued  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  everything  is 
ready  for  our  start,  and  all  we  have  to  do  to-morrow 
is  to  go  to  the  train  and  get  into  the  sleeping-car." 

"  Let's  sit  down  in  front  of  the  fire  and  talk  a 
little,  Uncle  Will.  You  have  plenty  of  time  before 
dinner,  haven't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  half  an  hour  before  it  will  be  time 
to  dress ;  I'll  smoke  a  pipe  and  talk  to  you  for  that 
time.  Now,  ask  your  questions." 

Jack  Danvers  was  a  New  York  boy  about  fourteen 


4        JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

years  old.  He  lived  in  East  38th  Street,  near  Park 
Avenue,  and  Mrs.  Danver's  brother,  Will  Sturgis, 
had  a  ranch  out  on  the  Plains,  on  which  were  many 
horses  and  cattle.  Mr.  Sturgis  spent  the  summer 
on  the  ranch,  but  often  came  to  New  York  for  the 
winter.  The  ranch  was  in  a  wild  country,  where 
there  were  bears  and  elk  and  deer  and  antelope,  and 
sometimes  buffalo  and  Indians. 

Jack  was  not  a  very  strong  boy.  He  was  slim 
and  pale  and  spent  most  of  his  time  reading,  instead 
of  playing  out  of  doors  as  all  boys  should.  In  the 
summer  when  he  was  in  the  country  and  in  the  open 
air  he  grew  brown  and  hearty,  but  through  the 
winter  he  became  slender  and  white  again. 

Jack  had  no  brothers  and  sisters,  and  his  parents 
were  often  anxious  about  his  health.  They  had 
thought  several  times  of  moving  to  the  country  to 
live,  so  that  Jack  might  have  an  out-door  life  all  the 
year  round,  but  Mr.  Danvers'  business  was  so  con- 
fining that  he  was  obliged  to  be  in  town  constantly, 
and  Mrs.  Danvers  was  not  willing  to  leave  him. 

Dr.  Robertson,  whom  Mr.  Danvers  had  consulted, 
had  given  much  thought  to  the  boy's  case,  and  at 
last  had  advised  his  mother  to  send  him  out  to  his* 
uncle's  ranch  for  a  year,  or  at  least  for  a  summer, 
telling  her  that  a  few  months  of  rough  life  in  the 
open  air  would  do  him  more  good  than  all  the  medi- 
cines in  the  world.  When  Dr.  Robertson  told  her 
this,  Mrs.  Danvers  at  first  thought  the  advice  dread- 
ful She  said,  "  Oh,  doctor,  I  couldn't  think  of 
doing  that.  Why  the  life  out  there  is  one  of  con- 


JACK  DANVERS  5 

stant  danger  and  hardship.  There  are  cowboys  and 
Indians  and  wild  animals  of  all  sorts.  I  should 
never  have  an  easy  moment  while  Jack  was  away." 

"  My  dear  madam,"  said  the  doctor,  "  medicine  is 
often  very  unpleasant  to  take,  unpleasant  for  the 
patient  and  sometimes  for  his  friends  as  well.  I  can 
build  your  boy's  system  up  from  time  to  time  with 
tonics,  but  I  can  do  him  no  permanent  good.  My 
medicines  are  only  palliatives ;  the  real  trouble  is 
with  his  environment.  If  the  conditions  of  his  life 
are  changed,  he  will  be  certain  to  throw  off  the 
lassitude  and  weakness  which  he  now  feels,  and  to 
become  a  stout  and  hearty  boy  about  whose  general 
health  you  need  have  no  farther  concern ;  but  it  is 
important  that  now,  when  eight  or  ten  years  of 
schooling  and  study  are  before  him,  he  should  have  a 
well-nourished  body.  I  know  of  nothing  that  prom- 
ise  so  much  in  this  direction  as  a  course  of  open-air 
life  and  vigorous  exercise.  Now  he  stays  too  much 
in  the  house  and  cares  for  nothing  but  books.  This 
is  not  natural  for  a  boy  of  his  age.  He  ought  to  be 
full  of  animal  spirits  and  to  be  working  them  off  by 
climbing  trees,  running  races  and  fighting.  Think 
this  matter  over  carefully,  Mrs.  Danvers,  and  let 
me  know  what  you  and  your  husband  decide.*' 

After  much  thought  and  many  long  talks,  the 
parents  had  at  last  made  up  their  minds  to  let  their 
boy  go.  All  preparations  had  been  made,  and  on 
the  next  day  Jack  and  his  uncle  were  to  take  the 
train  for  the  Far  West. 

"Well,  Uncle  Will."  said  Jack,  "first,  I  want  to 


6        JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

know  how  long  it  will  take  us  to  get  out  to  the 
ranch?" 

"  Five  days,  unless  something  happens  to  delay 
us,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis. 

"  Next/'  said  Jack,  "  I  want  to  know  what  I  can 
do  on  the  ranch.  I  want  to  help  in  the  work,  you 
know,  but  I  don't  know  how  to  ride,  or  how  to  do 
anything  that  you  have  to  do  out  there  among  the 
cattle  and  horses.  I'll  have  to  learn  a  great  deal 
before  I  can  be  of  any  use." 

"Yes,  of  course,  you  will  have  to  learn.  You 
will  pick  up  riding  and  roping  readily  enough,  but 
to  learn  the  ways  of  the  prairie  and  the  mountains 
is  not  so  easy,  and  unless  you  are  with  some  one 
that  knows  all  that  and  tries  to  teach  you,  it  will 
take  you  a  long  time  to  learn.  You  can  easily  learn 
the  cowboy  part  of  your  education  from  almost  any 
of  us  out  at  the  ranch,  but  there  is  only  one  man 
there  who  can  teach  you  how  to  become  a  good 
mountain  man ;  that  is  old  Hugh  Johnson.  He 
has  lived  on  the  plains  and  in  the  mountains  for 
more  than  forty  years,  and  has  hunted,  trapped  and 
fought  Indians  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific, 
and  from  the  Saskatchewan  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
He  knows  the  plains  and  the  mountains  better  than 
any  one  I  ever  saw,  and  is  like  an  Indian  for  reading 
sign." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  reading  sign,  Uncle 
Will?  "said  Jack. 

"  Sign  is  a  word  which  may  mean  a  great  many 
things.  Sign  may  be  the  tracks  of  animals,  or  of 


JACK  DANVERS  ; 

people,  or  the  smoke  of  fires,  or  an  old  camp,  of 
clothing  dropped  by  some  one  who  has  passed  along. 
Anything  that  shows  that  animals  or  people  have 
been  in  a  certain  place  is  called  sign.  Sign  may  be  old 
or  fresh,  and  there  is  always  something  about  it  that 
should  tell  you  more  than  the  mere  fact  that  what- 
ever made  it  has  been  there.  You  ought  to  be  able 
to  tell  when  the  sign  was  made,  and  sometimes  how  it 
came  to  be  made.  Sometimes  the  sign  is  merely  the 
way  the  wild  animals  act.  I  remember  years  ago, 
when  the  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  were  troublesome,  I 
was  travelling  alone  with  Hugh,  and  one  night  when 
we  camped,  he  rode  out  to  kill  a  buffalo  heifer. 
Before  long  he  came  back  and  told  me  that  he  had 
seen  Indian  sign,  and  that  as  soon  as  it  was  dark 
we  must  start  and  travel  on  all  night.  When  I 
asked  him  what  he  had  seen,  he  said  that  the  animals 
were  uneasy  and  the  buffalo  were  running,  and  that 
some  one  was  chasing  them  not  far  off.  We  hid  our 
horses  in  a  ravine  and  crept  on  top  of  a  near-by  hill 
from  which  we  could  see  a  good  stretch  of  country. 
Sure  enough,  before  long  we  saw  buffalo  running  as 
if  frightened,  and  a  little  later  we  saw,  far  off,  two 
Indians  chasing  a  little  bunch.  We  lighted  no  fire 
that  evening,  but  soon  after  dark  rode  away,  and 
did  not  rest  till  we  had  put  forty  miles  behind  us." 

"  Do  you  think  they  would  have  tried  to  kill  you, 
if  they  had  seen  you  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  his  uncle,  "  we  were  not 
taking  any  chances. 

"  Now,  when  you  get  to  the  ranch,"  he  went  on. 


8        JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"  you  will  learn  a  lot  about  the  birds  and  animals, 
and  if  your  tastes  lie  that  way,  and  you  keep  your 
eyes  open,  you  will  find  out  much  of  the  life  of  these 
wild  things  that  few  people  know.  Although  I  have 
been  out  there  so  many  years  and  have  always  tried 
to  observe  things,  I  see  every  season  something 
that  I  never  saw  before,  and  learn  more  and  more 
how  little  I  really  know  about  the  beasts  and  the 
birds  of  the  west — even  those  that  are  most  common 
about  the  ranch.  Only  last  year  I  saw  for  the  first 
time  a  little  blind  coyote  puppy  dug  out  from  a 
hole  in  a  ravine  and  was  astonished  to  find  that, 
instead  of  being  yellow  it  was  dark  blue,  almost 
black  in  fact.  You  could  get  a  great  collection  of 
pets  together  at  the  ranch.  Young  elk,  young 
antelope  and  deer  and  wolves,  possibly  a  buffalo 
calf,  some  foxes,  and  birds  of  a  dozen  different  kinds, 
grouse,  ducks,  magpies,  young  hawks.  Why,  you 
could  have  a  regular  menagerie." 

"  Oh,  what  fun  that  would  be,"  said  Jack.  "  I 
should  like  that.  But  how  do  you  catch  all  these 
things  ?  I  supposed  that  young  deer  and  antelope 
could  run  so  fast  that  they  could  not  be  caught.  I 
thought  that  they  ran  even  faster  than  the  old  ones." 

"  They  can  run  very  fast  and  they  are  hard  to 
catch  as  soon  as  they  are  a  few  weeks  old,"  said 
his  uncle ;  "  but  when  they  are  quite  young — for 
the  first  few  days  after  they  are  born — they  can 
scarcely  run  at  all.  During  this  time  the  mother 
hides  them,  telling  them,  I  suppose,  in  her  own 
language,  to  lie  perfectly  still  until  she  returns. 


JACK  DANVERS  9 

The  young  one  lies  flat  on  the  ground,  and  the  old 
mother  goes  off  a  little  way — not  far  though — and 
feeds  about.  If  she  sees  any  one  coming,  or  if 
danger  of  any  kind  threatens,  she  runs  away  and 
only  returns  after  it  is  past.  Meanwhile,  the  little 
one,  lying  there  among  the  grass  or  weeds  or  under- 
growth, and  keeping  perfectly  still,  is  not  noticed  by 
the  hunter  or  the  wild  animal  that  is  passing  along, 
and  when  the  mother  returns,  she  finds  it  just 
where  she  left  it.  It  is  said  that  at  this  time  of 
their  lives,  these  young  animals  give  out  no  scent, 
and  so  they  are  not  found  by  the  wolves,  unless  these 
brutes  happen  to  come  right  upon  them." 

"  Well,  but  how  do  you  catch  them  then  ?  "  said 
Jack. 

"  When  we  see  an  old  doe  antelope  by  herself  on 
the  prairie  at  about  the  season  of  the  year  when  the 
young  are  born,  we  watch  her  and  we  can  tell  pretty 
well  whether  she  has  a  young  one  or  not.  If  we 
think  she  has  a  kid,  we  can  get  some  idea  of  where 
it  is  hidden  by  the  way  the  mother  acts.  Then  the 
only  way  to  find  it  is  to  go  to  the  place  and  search 
the  ground  over  foot  by  foot,  until  the  young  one  is 
found  or  the  task  is  given  up.  Usually  both  kids 
will  be  found  side  by  side,  but  sometimes  they  are 
three  or  four  feet  apart.  When  they  are  taken  up, 
they  do  not  struggle  or  try  to  get  away.  They  hang 
perfectly  limp,  and  if  you  try  to  make  them  stand 
up,  their  legs  give  way  under  them  and  they  sink 
down  again.  It  is  often  twenty-four  hours  before 
they  seem  to  take  any  interest  in  what  is  going  on 


io      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

about  them,  but  when  they  get  hungry,  and  after 
they  have  once  drunk  some  milk,  they  are  tame, 
and  as  soon  as  they  become  strong,  very  playful. 
Young  antelope  are  not  always  easily  reared,  but 
young  deer  and  elk  are  more  hardy.  If  a  buffalo 
calf  is  caught  it  can  be  given  to  a  cow  to  rear. 
Wolf  or  coyote  puppies  can  be  reared  on  a  bottle. 
Those  animals  do  not  easily  become  tame  and  trust- 
ful. They  are  likely  to  be  shy  and  to  dodge  and 
jump  away  if  any  sudden  motion  is  made,  but  when 
they  are  pleased,  when  any  one  in  whom  they  have 
confidence  approaches  them,  they  lay  back  their  ears 
and  wag  their  tails  and  wriggle  their  bodies  just  like 
an  affectionate  dog.  Once  we  had  a  young  bear 
at  the  ranch  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  he  was  an 
amusing  pet.  If  you  gave  him  a  bottle  of  milk  he 
would  stand  on  his  hind  legs,  and  holding  the 
bottle  in  both  hands  he  would  tilt  it  up  and  let  the 
milk  trickle  down  his  throat  until  the  bottle  was 
empty,  when  he  would  throw  it  away." 

"  Uncle  Will,  I  think  we're  going  to  have  a 
splendid  time  out  west.  I  don't  feel  as  if  I  could 
wait  for  to-morrow  to  come." 

44  It  will  be  here  before  you  know  it,  old  fellow ; 
and  we'll  be  at  the  ranch  before  you  know  it  too." 


CHAPTER  II 

PRAIRIE  WOLVES  AND  ANTELOPE 

ONE  morning,  a  few  days  later,  a  train  was  speed- 
ing westward  among  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  bearing  the  travellers  towards  their 
summer  home.  The  grey  monotone  of  the  prairie 
was  unbroken  by  any  bit  of  colour.  The  soil,  the 
sage-brush,  the  dead  grass  that  had  grown  the  sum- 
mer before,  were  all  grey,  unvaried  except  where  a 
great  rock  or  a  bush  taller  than  its  fellows  cast  a 
long  black  shadow.  Now  and  then  the  train  passed 
close  to  some  high  butte,  whose  sides  were  gashed 
and  gullied  by  deep  ravines,  and  whose  summit  was 
crowned  by  a  scattered  fringe  of  black  pines.  Far 
off  on  either  side,  rose  great  mountains,  covered 
with  a  mantle  of  snow,  the  most  distant  looking  like 
far-off  white  clouds.  From  this  snowy  covering  long 
fingers  of  white  ran  down  the  narrow  valleys  and 
ravines,  seeming  like  white  clasps  holding  the  cover- 
ing close  in  its  place.  The  nearer  foothills  were 
white  towards  their  tops,  and  against  the  shining 
snow  the  black  pine  trees  stood  out  in  strong  con- 
trast. Scattered  over  the  grey  plain  were  horses  and 
cattle,  most  of  them  in  little  herds,  but  now  and 

ii 


12      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

then  a  single  cow  was  seen  and  near  her  a  staggering 
calf,  which  had  just  been  born,  to  face  the  scorching 
heats  and  bitter  colds  of  the  high  plains. 

Suddenly  as  the  train  rushed  around  a  low  knoll, 
a  dozen  animals  were  seen,  running  swiftly  along, 
parallel  with  the  track,  and  less  than  three  hundred 
feet  distant.  In  colour  they  were  bright  yellow, 
almost  red,  with  white  patches  and  white  legs,  and 
two  or  three  of  them  had  black  and  nearly  straight 
horns.  They  were  graceful,  and  ran  very  swiftly, 
easily  keeping  pace  with  the  train. 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack,  grasping  his  uncle's 
arm,  "  what  are  those  ?  They're  not  deer,  I  am  sure, 
They  must  be  antelope.  How  pretty  they  are,  and 
see  how  fast  they  run  !  Why,  they  are  going  faster 
than  the  train,  I  do  believe.  They  just  seem  to 
skim  over  the  ground." 

"  Yes,  those  are  antelope,  the  swiftest  animal  on 
the  plains.  And  yet  the  coyotes  catch  a  good  many 
of  them,  just  by  running  them  down.  Now,  how  do 
you  suppose  they  do  that,  Jack?"  and  his  uncle 
smiled  at  the  boy's  puzzled  expression. 

"  I  don't  know.  You  said  they  were  the  swiftest 
animals  on  the  plains,  and  yet  you  say  that  the 
coyotes  catch  them.  That  seems  to  mean  that  the 
coyotes  are  swifter.  Doesn't  it?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Not  exactly,"  replied  his  uncle ;  "  it  only  means 
that  they  are  smarter — more  cunning.  A  single 
coyote  who  undertook  to  run  down  a  single  antelope, 
would  get  very  tired  and  very  hungry  before  he  ac- 
complished it,  but  when  two  or  three  coyotes  are 


PRAIRIE  WOLVES  AND  ANTELOPE     13 

together,  it  is  quite  a  different  thing.  The  coyotes 
do  not  all  run  after  the  antelope  together.  They 
take  turns,  and  while  one  runs,  the  others  rest,  so  at 
last  they  tire  the  antelope  out." 

"  But  I  should  think  that  when  the  antelope  ran, 
it  would  leave  all  the  wolves  behind,  those  that 
were  resting  even  more  than  the  one  that  was  chas- 
ing it." 

"  It  would  do  so  if  it  ran  straight  away  and  out  of 
the  country,  but  this  it  does  not  do.  Instead,  it 
runs  in  large  circles.  When  three  or  four  prairie 
wolves  decide  that  they  want  antelope  meat  for 
breakfast,  one  of  them  creeps  as  close  as  possible  to 
the  animal  they  have  selected,  and  then  makes  a 
rush  for  it,  running  as  fast  as  he  possibly  can,  so  as 
to  push  the  antelope  to  its  best  speed  and  to  tire  it 
out.  Meantime  his  companions  spread  out  on  either 
side  of  the  runner,  and  get  on  little  hills  or  knolls, 
so  as  to  keep  the  chase  in  sight.  They  trot  from 
point  to  point,  and  pretty  soon  when  the  antelope 
turns  and  begins  to  work  back  towards  one  of  them, 
this  one  tries  to  get  as  nearly  as  possible  in  its  path, 
and  as  it  flies  by,  the  wolf  dashes  out  at  it  and  runs 
after  it  at  the  top  of  its  speed,  while  the  one  that 
had  been  chasing  the  antelope  stops  running,  and 
trots  off  to  some  nearby  hill,  where,  while  the  water 
drips  off  his  lolling  tongue,  he  watches  the  race  and 
gets  his  breath  again.  After  a  little  the  antelope 
passes  near  another  coyote,  which  takes  up  the  pur- 
suit in  its  turn.  And  so  the  chase  is  kept  up  until 
the  poor  antelope  is  exhausted,  when  it  is  overtaken 


14      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  pulled  down  by  one  or  more  of  the  hungry 
brutes." 

"  Why,  I  should  think  the  coyotes  would  kill  all 
the  antelope  after  awhile,"  said  Jack. 

"  Of  course  the  coyotes  do  not  catch  every  ante- 
lope they  start,"  said  his  uncle.  "  Sometimes  the 
game  runs  such  a  course  that  it  does  not  pass  near 
any  of  the  waiting  wolves,  and  only  the  one  that 
starts  it  has  any  running  to  do.  Then  the  chase 
does  not  last  long ;  the  wolves  give  up.  Sometimes 
the  antelope  is  so  stout  and  strong  that  it  tires  out  all 
its  pursuers.  Yet  they  catch  them  more  frequently 
than  one  would  think,  and  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon 
to  see  coyotes  chasing  antelope,  although,  of  course 
one  does  not  often  see  the  whole  race  and  its  termi- 
nation. Often  if  a  wolf  running  an  antelope  comes 
near  to  a  man,  he  gives  up  the  chase  and  that  par- 
ticular antelope  is  saved.  It  is  a  common  thing  for 
a  single  coyote  to  chase  an  old  doe  with  her  kids, 
just  after  the  little  ones  have  begun  to  run  about. 
At  that  time  they  are  very  swift  for  short  distances, 
but  have  not  the  strength  to  stand  a  long  chase.  In 
such  a  case  a  mother  will  often  stay  behind  her 
young,  and  will  try  to  fight  off  the  coyote,  butting 
him  with  her  head  and  striking  him  with  her  fore- 
feet. He  pays  little  attention  to  her,  except  to 
snap  at  her,  and  keeps  on  after  the  kids.  Several 
times  I  have  seen  a  mother  antelope  lead  her  young 
one  into  the  midst  of  a  bed  of  cactus,  where  the 
wolf  could  not  go  without  getting  his  feet  full  of 
thorns.  If  the  bed  is  small,  the  wolf  will  make 


PRAIRIE  WOLVES  AND  ANTELOPE     15 

fierce  dashes  up  to  its  borders,  trying  to  frighten  the 
little  ones,  so  that  they  will  run  out  on  the  other 
side  and  he  can  start  after  them  again,  but  usually 
the  mother  has  no  trouble  in  holding  them.  I  have 
several  times  killed  young  antelope  whose  legs  had 
been  bitten  up  by  coyotes,  but  which  had  got  away. 
One  hot  day  last  summer  a  gang  of  section-men  were 
working  in  a  railroad  cut  west  of  here,  when  sud- 
denly a  big  buck  antelope  ran  down  one  side  of  the 
cut,  across  the  track  and  up  the  other  side.  His 
sudden  dash  into  the  midst  of  them  startled  the  men, 
and  as  they  stood  looking  up  where  he  had  crossed, 
a  coyote  suddenly  plunged  down  the  side  of  the  cut, 
just  as  the  antelope  had  done.  The  readiest  of  the 
section  men  threw  a  hammer  at  him,  and  the  wolf 
turned  and  scrambled  up  the  bank  and  was  not  seen 
again. 

"  I  wonder  what  the  men  thought  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Two  or  three  years  ago  I  camped  one  afternoon 
near  Rock  Creek,  and  as  there  was  very  little  feed, 
we  turned  the  horses  loose  at  night  to  pick  among 
the  sage  brush  and  grease  wood.  Early  in  the  mor- 
ning, before  sunrise,  while  the  man  with  me  was 
getting  breakfast,  I  started  out  to  get  the  horses. 
They  were  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  I  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  back  of  camp,  from  which,  as  it  was 
the  only  high  place  anywhere  about,  I  felt  sure  that 
I  could  see  them.  Just  before  I  got  to  the  top  of 
the  hill  an  old  doe  antelope  suddenly  came  in  view, 
closely  followed  by  a  coyote.  Both  of  them  seemed 
to  be  running  as  hard  as  they  could,  and  both  had 


16      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

their  tongues  hanging  out  as  if  they  had  come  a  long 
way.  Suddenly,  almost  at  the  heels  of  the  antelope 
— much  closer  to  her  than  the  other  wolf — appeared 
a  second  coyote  which  now  took  up  the  running, 
while  the  one  that  had  been  chasing  her  stopped  and 
sat  down  and  watched.  The  antelope  ran  quite  a 
long  distance,  always  bearing  a  little  to  the  left,  and 
now  seeming  to  run  more  slowly  than  when  I  first 
saw  her.  As  she  kept  turning,  it  was  evident  that 
she  would  either  run  around  the  hill  on  which  I  stood, 
or  would  come  back  near  it.  At  first  I  was  so  inter- 
ested in  watching  her  that  I  forgot  to  look  at  the 
wolf  that  had  stopped.  When  I  did  so,  he  was  no 
longer  in  the  same  place,  but  was  trotting  over  a 
little  ridge  that  ran  down  from  the  hill  and  was 
watching  the  chase  that  was  now  so  far  off.  He 
could  easily  have  cut  across  and  headed  the  antelope, 
but  he  knew  too  well  what  she  would  do  to  give 
himself  that  trouble.  After  a  little,  it  was  evident 
that  the  antelope  would  come  back  pretty  near  to 
the  hill,  but  on  the  other  side  of  it  from  where  she 
had  passed  before,  and  the  wolf  which  I  had  first 
seen  chasing  her,  trotted  out  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  on  the  prairie  and  sat  down.  The  antelope 
was  now  coming  back  almost  directly  towards  him, 
and  I  could  see  that  there  were  two  wolves  behind 
her,  one  close  at  her  heels  and  the  other  a  good  way 
further  back.  The  first  wolf  now  seemed  quite  ex, 
cited.  He  no  longer  sat  up,  but  crouched  close  to 
the  ground,  every  few  moments  raising  his  head  very 
slowly  to  take  a  look  at  the  doe,  and  then  lowering 


PRAIRIE  WOLVES  AND  ANTELOPE     17 

it  again  so  that  he  would  be  out  of  sight.  Some* 
times  he  crawled  on  his  belly  a  few  feet  further  from 
me,  evidently  trying  to  put  himself  directly  in  the 
path  of  the  antelope ;  and  this  he  seemed  to  have 
succeeded  in  doing.  As  she  drew  near  him  I  could 
see  that  she  was  staggering,  she  was  so  tired,  and  the 
wolf  behind  could  at  any  moment  have  knocked  her 
down,  if  he  had  wanted  to,  but  he  seemed  to  be 
waiting  for  something.  The  wolf  that  was  following 
him  was  now  running  faster  and  catching  up. 

"  When  the  antelope  reached  the  place  where  the 
first  wolf  was  lying  hidden,  he  sprang  up  and  in  a 
jump  or  two  caught  her  neck  and  threw  her  down. 
At  the  same  moment,  the  two  wolves  from  behind 
came  up,  and  for  a  moment  there  was  a  scuffle  in 
which  yellow  and  white  and  grey  and  waving  tails 
were  all  mixed  up,  and  then  the  three  wolves  were 
seen  standing  there,  tearing  away  at  their  breakfast. 

"  Great  Scott !  that  must  have  been  exciting,"  said 
Jack. 

"  It  was/*  said  his  uncle ; "  I  had  been  so  interested 
in  watching  this  thing,  which  after  all  had  not  taken 
more  than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  of  time,  that  I  had 
forgotten  all  about  the  horses.  It  only  needed  a 
moment's  looking  to  see  them,  a  short  distance  down 
the  stream,  and  before  I  had  got  to  them  and  brought 
them  back  to  camp,  I  heard  Bill's  voice  singing  out 
breakfast." 

"  I  always  thought,"  said  Jack,  "  that  the  antelope 
could  run  so  fast  that  they  could  get  away  from  all 
their  enemies  except  hunters  that  carried  rifles.  Is 


18      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

there  any  other  wild  animal  besides  the  coyote  that 
catches  them?" 

"  Yes,  the  golden  eagles  often  kill  them  when  they 
are  quite  young,  though  if  any  old  ones  are  near 
they  will  fight  the  birds  and  keep  them  from  catching 
the  kids.  Once  in  winter  I  saw  an  eagle  attack  two 
kids  that  were  feeding  at  a  little  distance  from  a  big 
bunch  of  perhaps  a  thousand  antelope.  At  this  time 
the  young  ones  were  seven  or  eight  months  old,  and 
so  quite  large  and  strong.  The  eagle  had  been  sit- 
ting somewhere  on  the  hillside  and  flew  down  over 
the  kids  to  pounce  on  one  of  them.  They  imme- 
diately began  to  run  to  the  herd,  and  when  the  eagle 
made  a  dart  at  them,  they  both  stopped,  reared  on 
their  hind  legs,  a  good  deal  in  the  position  of  the 
unicorn  that  we  sometimes  see  fighting  for  the 
crown,  and  struck  at  the  bird  with  their  forefeet. 
Perhaps  the  eagle  was  not  very  hungry,  but  at  all 
events  this  turned  him  and  the  kids  ran  on.  He 
made  two  more  swoops  at  them  before  they  reached 
the  herd,  but  each  time  they  fought  him  off  in  the 
same  way  by  rearing  up  and  striking  at  him.  Of 
course  when  they  got  in  among  the  other  antelope 
the  eagles  left  them  and  flew  away. 

"You  know  that  in  old  times,  before  they  had 
horses  or  fire-arms,  the  Indians  used  to  catch  ante- 
lope  in  traps." 

"  No,  I  didn't  know  that,"  said  Jack,  "  how  did 
they  do  it  ?  "  I  should  think  it  would  have  needed  a 
pretty  big  trap  to  hold  an  antelope." 

"  It  was  something  on  the  same  plan  as  the  way 


PRAIRIE  WOLVES  AND  ANTELOPE     19 

in  which  they  trapped  the  buffalo  ;  they  built  two 
long  straight  fences  which  almost  came  together  at 
one  end  and  were  far  apart  at  the  other.  At  the 
end  of  the  fences  where  they  almost  came  together, 
the  Indians  either  built  a  corral  or  dug  a  deep  pit 
which  they  roofed  over  by  slender  poles  on  which 
they  put  grass  and  dirt.  Now  you  have  heard  that 
the  antelope  is  very  curious.  If  he  sees  anything 
that  he  does  not  understand  or  can't  quite  make  out 
he  is  likely  to  go  up  closer  to  it,  so  as  to  see  what 
this  object  really  is.  The  Indians  took  advantage 
of  this  weakness  of  the  antelope  and  by  means  of  it 
decoyed  bunches  of  them  into  the  space  between 
the  widely  separated  ends  of  these  two  fences. 
Other  Indians  were  hidden  behind  the  fence,  and  as 
soon  as  the  herd  got  started  down  between  these 
wings  the  Indians  near  the  end  of  the  fence  ran  out 
and  got  behind  the  antelope,  which  were  then 
forced  to  run  down  towards  the  pit  or  the  corral. 
If  it  was  a  pit,  they  broke  through  the  roof  in  run- 
ning over  it,  or  they  ran  into  the  corral  where  they 
were  killed  by  the  Indians,  who  were  hidden  nearby. 

"  Down  in  Utah  and  Colorado,  south-west  of  here, 
I  have  seen  in  several  places  the  remains  of  these 
fences  and  corrals.  I  do  not  know  that  the  Indians 
hereabouts  ever  caught  the  antelope  in  pits,  but 
men  who  have  lived  up  north  with  the  Blackfeet  and 
Cheyennes,  tell  me  that  up  there  they  used  the  pits 
instead  of  the  corrals. 

"  So  you  see,  my  boy,  the  antelope  has  his  troubles 
like  other  people.  It  isn't  all  cake  and  pie  for  him. 


20      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

even  though  he  can  run  fast  and  lives  out  on  the 
prairie  where  he  can  see  a  long  distance." 

"That's  so,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack,  "  I  never 
thought  of  all  these  things." 

While  the  two  had  been  talking  they  had  for- 
gotten about  the  antelope,  and  these  had  now  been 
long  left  behind.  Now  the  train  with  a  long  groan- 
ing  whistle  plunged  into  the  darkness  of  a  snow 
shed,  and  a  few  moments  later  ran  out  past  the 
border  of  a  large  lake,  the  surface  of  which  was 
covered  with  ducks  and  geese  which  rose  from  the 
water  until  the  air  was  fairly  dark  with  their  num- 
bers. The  whistle  of  the  duck's  wings  and  the 
clamour  of  the  honking  geese  could  be  heard,  even 
though  the  car  windows  were  shut,  and  the  pas- 
sengers all  gathered  at  the  windows  to  look  at  the 
great  flocks  of  birds. 

When  they  had  passed  out  of  sight  of  the  lake  his 
uncle  said  to  Jack :  **  That  is  the  Medicine  Lake, 
and  the  next  stop  is  our  station.  Better  ring  the 
bell  for  the  porter,  so  that  he  can  have  all  our  things 
together  ready  to  put  off." 

"  Well,  Thomas,"  he  said  to  the  smiling  coloured 
man  who  came  up,  brush  in  hand,  "  we  are  going  to 
leave  you  now.  Please  get  all  our  things  ready  to 
throw  off.  You  know  the  train  does  not  stop  long." 

"  All  right  sir,  all  right,"  said  Thomas,  "  I'll  see 
that  nothing  is  left.  Hope  you  will  have  a  good 
drive  out,  Mr.  Sturgis.  Nice  day  you've  got.  Don't 
always  have  such  nice  weather,  this  time  of  the 
year."  And  he  brushed  furiously. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ROAD  TO  THE  RANCH 

THE  little  cluster  of  buildings  which  the  travellers 
saw  when  they  stepped  from  the  cars  to  the  station 
platform  was  smaller  than  any  village  that  Jack  had 
ever  been  in.  There  were  the  station,  the  section 
house  and  the  great  round  water  tank,  all  painted 
red,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  track  a  row  of  five 
one-story  houses,  four  of  unpainted  logs,  and  one 
of  boards,  with  large  glass  windows,  evidently  a 
store.  Standing  on  the  platform  were  a  man  hold- 
ing a  mail  sack,  two  men  wearing  broad-brimmed 
hats,  enormous  fringed  leather  trousers,  and  small 
hig»h  heeled  boots  with  great  spurs.  Not  far  from 
the  platform  stood  a  heavy  spring-waggon,  to  which 
were  hitched  two  good-sized  chestnut  horses,  very 
nervous,  or  else  half  broken,  for  they  were  rearing 
and  plunging  and  shying  away  from  the  train,  yet 
were  perfectly  controlled  by  their  driver,  a  large 
stoop-shouldered,  white-bearded  man.  As  the  train 
drew  out  of  the  station,  this  team  made  a  wide  circle 
and  then  drove  up  to  the  platform,  and  as  it  reached 
it,  the  driver  called  out  cheerily :  "  How  are  you 
Mr.  Sturgis  ?  how  are  you,  sir.  Glad  to  see  you  ;  * 

21 


22      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  he  reached  out  and  caught  Mr.  Sturgis'  hand  in 
a  cordial  grasp.  "  This  your  nephew  ?  How  are 
you,  my  son  ?  I'm  glad  you've  come  out  into  this 
country  to  visit  with  us.  We'll  try  to  make  a  cow- 
man of  you  before  you  go  back." 

"How  are  you,  Hugh  ?"  said  Mr.  Sturgis.  "I 
am  glad  to  see  you,  and  glad  to  get  back  again.  I 
have  had  enough  of  the  town  for  a  little  while. 
Yes,  this  is  my  nephew,  Jack  Danvers.  I  want  you 
to  know  him  and  like  him,  for  I  hope  that  you  two 
will  see  a  good  deal  of  each  other  before  snow  flies. 
Jack  has  never  been  away  from  home  before.  He 
has  everything  to  learn  about  life  in  the  mountains, 
and  there  is  no  one  who  can  teach  him  so  well  as 
you." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  as  I'm 
much  of  a  hand  to  break  in  a  cowboy.  I  took  to 
it  too  late.  But  let's  get  your  things  loaded.  If 
you'll  take  these  lines  I'll  pack  the  waggon." 

In  a  very  few  moments  the  small  trunks,  bundles, 
gun-cases  and  bags  were  stored  in  the  deep  box  of 
the  waggon,  and  Hugh,  stepping  in  again,  took  the 
lines  and  they  drove  off  north  over  the  rolling  prairie. 

The  horses,  which  started  with  a  rush,  for  a  little 
time  occupied  all  his  attention.  Old  tin  cans  lying 
near  the  roads,  and  bits  of  paper  quivering  in  the 
wind,  caused  them  to  shy,  and  often  they  tried  to 
bolt,  but  the  firm  hand  on  the  reins,  and  the  low 
soothing  voice  soon  quieted  them,  and  before  long 
they  were  jogging  steadily  and  swiftly  over  the 
prairie  road. 


THE  ROAD  TO  THE  RANCH  23 

"They'll  be  a  good  team,  Hugh,  after  a  little 
driving,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis. 

"  That's  what ;"  replied  Hugh.  "They're  good 
now,  only  they're  a  little  mite  skeery  yet,  but 
they'll  soon  get  over  that.  I  don't  know  as  I  ever 
saw  a  team  that  promised  better.  They're  right 
quiet,  too,  when  you  get  'em  going."  Just  as  he 
said  this,  a  great  bird  rose  with  a  roar  of  wings, 
almost  under  the  horses'  feet,  and  the  right  quiet 
animals,  turning  at  right  angles,  bolted  over  the 
prairie,  the  waggon  bumping  and  bouncing  over 
the  sage-brush  in  a  way  that  made  the  two  men 
hold  on  for  dear  life,  while  Jack,  who  was  sitting 
between  them,  clung  to  the  back  of  the  seat,  some- 
what uneasy  lest  he  should  be  thrown  over  the 
dashboard.  Gradually  Hugh  checked  the  horses* 
speed  and  turned  them  back  to  the  road,  and  when 
they  were  again  quiet,  he  looked  down  at  Jack  and 
said  to  him,  with  a  twinkle  of  fun  in  his  eye  :  "  I 
expect  this  prairie  isn't  as  smooth  as  some  of  your 
park  roads  back  in  the  States,  my  son." 

"My,  no!  It  bumped,  didn't  it?  and  I  don't 
think  your  horses  are  so  very  quiet  yet,  Mr.  Hugh. 
But  what  was  that  big  bird  that  made  such  a  noise 
when  it  flew  up?  Was  it  a  partridge?  I've  heard 
about  the  noise  they  make  getting  up,  but  I  didn't 
suppose  they  were  as  big  as  that." 

"  That  was  a  sage  hen,  my  son.  You'll  see  lots 
of  them  before  night.  It's  getting  along  towards 
nesting  time  for  them,  and  maybe  we'll  find  some 
nests,  and  maybe  get  some  young-  ones  this  spring. 


24      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

I've  raised  a  brood  or  two,  but  they  always  went  off 
after  they  got  big.  Along  in  the  fall,  say  in  Oc- 
tober, just  before  it  gets  cold  weather,  they  get 
together  in  big  droves,  hundreds  and  hundreds  to- 
gether, and  stay  like  that  all  winter.  They're  big, 
but  they  ain't  much  account.  They  taste  too  strong 
of  the  sage.  The  young  ones  about  half  grown  are 
good  eating,  though  not  near  so  good  as  the  blue 
grouse  or  the  pheasant.  Now,  you  take  young 
blue  grouse,  just  when  they  are  feeding  on  the 
little  red  huckleberries  that  grow  on  the  mountains, 
and,  I  tell  you,  they  are  tender  and  as  nice  tasting 
as  any  bird  there  is.  There's  as  much  difference 
between  them  and  these  sage  hens  as  there  is  be- 
tween a  nice  fat  yearling  mountain  sheep  in  Oc- 
tober and  an  old  buck  antelope  at  the  same  time  of 
the  year." 

As  they  went  on,  Mr.  Sturgis  and  Hugh  began 
to  speak  of  matters  on  the  ranch,  of  cows  and 
calves  and  horses  and  colts  and  brands,  and  of 
places  and  people  Jack  had  never  heard  of,  so  that 
he  paid  no  heed  to  their  talk,  but  occupied  himself 
in  watching  the  prairie  over  which  they  were 
driving,  and  the  wild  creatures  which  lived  on 
it.  There  were  many  of  these,  chiefly  birds,  and 
these  of  kinds  new  to  him,  familiar  only  with  the 
commoner  birds  of  the  sea-coast.  Most  of  them  were 
small  and  dull-coloured,  but  not  all ;  for,  flying  up 
from  the  road,  yet  often  standing  close  to  it  while 
the  waggon  passed,  were  little  birds  with  bright 
yellow  throats  and  black  chins,  and  which  seemed 


THE  ROAD  TO  THE  RANCH  25 

to  have  little  black  horns  on  either  side  of  the  head. 
There  were  great  flocks  of  these,  and  Jack  deter- 
mined to  remember  and  ask  his  uncle  what  they 
were.  At  one  time  a  great,  long-eared  animal  sprang 
from  under  a  bush  by  the  side  of  the  road  and  half 
hopped,  half  ran  off  over  the  prairie.  It  was  mostly 
white,  and  had  long  ears,  and  Jack  thought  it  must 
be  a  rabbit  of  some  kind.  When  it  sprang  into 
view,  the  horses  gave  a  great  bound  and  tried  to 
run,  and  not  until  they  had  again  been  brought 
down  to  a  trot  was  he  able  to  ask  what  it  was,  and 
to  learn  that  it  was  a  jack-rabbit. 

By  this  time  they  had  gone  quite  a  long  way,  and 
as  they  reached  the  top  of  a  ridge,  Mr.  Sturgis 
pointed  toward  a  range  of  distant  hills  which  cut 
off  the  view,  and  asked  his  nephew  how  far  off  he 
thought  they  were. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,  Uncle  Will ;  how  far  are 
they?" 

"  They  are  about  twenty  miles  distant,  and  we 
have  to  go  ten  miles  beyond  them.  Do  you  see 
that  low  place  in  the  line  of  the  horizon,  just  to  the 
right  of  the  horses'  heads  ?  Well,  we  go  through 
that.  There  is  a  narrow  valley  there,  and  we  go  up 
that,  and  then  over  the  hill  and  down  into  the  basin, 
where  the  ranch  is." 

"What  makes  those  mountains  look  so  grey, 
Uncle  Will?  They  shine  almost  like  silver.  In 
some  places  the  mountain  looks  black,  but  it's 
mostly  grey." 

"The   black  is  the  dark  green  of  the  growing 


26      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

pine  timber,  and  the  grey  is  where  the  timber  has 
been  burned,  and  is  dead.  For  the  first  year  or 
two  after  the  fire  has  passed  over  the  forest  and 
killed  them,  the  trees  are  black  or  keep  their  bark. 
Then  the  wind  and  rain  and  snow  beating  on 
the  soft  coating  of  charcoal,  wear  off  the  charred 
surface  and  the  bark,  and  the  wood  becomes  grey 
from  the  weather,  just  the  colour  of  an  old  fence 
rail.  The  trees  continue  to  stand  for  a  good  many 
years,  and  give  this  grey  colour  to  the  mountain 
side.  Gradually  the  roots  rot,  and  one  by  one  the 
trees  fall  to  the  ground.  Often  they  lie  across  each 
other,  six  or  eight  feet  high,  and  this  is  the  "  down 
timber"  which  it  is  so  hard  to  travel  through. 
Sometimes  it  is  even  dangerous  to  pass  through  a 
piece  of  this  dead  timber.  If  it  has  been  dead 
a  long  time,  so  that  the  roots  of  many  of  the  trees 
have  become  rotten  and  weakened,  the  trees  are 
easily  thrown  down  by  a  high  wind.  I  have  seen  a 
tall,  thick  tree  pushed  over  by  a  mule  knocking  its 
pack  against  it,  and  in  a  gale  of  wind  have  seen  the 
trees  falling  all  around  me.  Of  course,  if  one  of 
them  fell  on  a  horse  it  would  kill  him." 

By  this  time  the  waggon  had  begun  to  go  down 
into  some  low  but  very  rough  and  barren  hills,  cut 
up  in  every  direction  by  ravines  and  water-courses. 
There  was  no  grass  and  the  ground  was  bare,  except 
for  low  sage-brush  here  and  there,  and  the  rocks 
seemed  to  be  bent  and  twisted.  Sometimes  a  little 
pointed  hill  was  capped  by  a  great  broad  slab  of 
stone,  or  again  a  narrow  ridge  was  crowned  with 


THE  ROAD  TO  THE  RANCH  27 

pinnacles  which  looked  like  pyramids  or  church 
steeples,  or  men  or  animals.  It  was  a  queer-looking 
place,  and  not  like  anything  that  Jack  had  ever  seen 
before.  He  asked  his  uncle  about  it,  and  he  ex- 
plained. "  These  are  what  the  old  French  trappers 
of  early  days  used  to  call  mauvaises  terres — bad  lands 
— because  no  grass  grows  on  them.  The  soil  is  all 
sand  or  clay,  and  very  dry.  All  this  country  you  see 
was  once  the  bottom  of  a  big  bay  where  the  tide 
rose  and  fell." 

"  Tide  rose  and  fell,  Uncle  Will !  How  could  that 
be?  Where  did  the  tide  come  from?  I  didn't 
think  that  the  ocean  was  within  a  thousand  miles 
of  here ; "  said  Jack. 

"  That  is  true  to-day,  Jack,"  said  his  uncle ;  "  but 
the  time  I  am  talking  about  was  long,  long  ago,  in 
what  the  men  who  study  the  earth's  history  call 
Jurassic  time.  No  one  knows  how  many  years  ago 
it  was,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  it  was  millions.  In  those 
times  the  salt  ocean,  or  an  arm  of  it,  lay  just  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  water  in  this  bay 
where  we  are  now  was  partly  fresh  and  partly  salt. 
Great  forests  grew  here,  and  strange  animals  lived 
among  them  and  fed  along  the  shores  of  this  bay. 
If  we  had  time  to  get  out  and  look  for  them,  we 
could  find  beaches,  where  the  sand  was  washed  up  by 
the  waves,  and  shells,  and  the  bones  of  these  great 
animals.  A  big  book  could  be  written  about  these 
bad  lands  here,  just  as  big  books  have  been  written 
about  other  bad  lands." 

"They're    surely    queer    places,"    said    Hugh. 


28      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"I've  seen  it  down  in  Kansas, and  down  on  Henry's 
iork  of  Green  River,  and  up  in  Oregon,  where  the 
ground  was  stuck  full  of  bones  and  teeth.  Some  of 
the  leg-bones  was  nigh  as  thick  as  my  body,  and 
some  of  the  big  heads  had  long  teeth  as  long  as  my 
hand.  They  must  have  been  big  animals,  and 
mighty  dangerous  too,  I  reckon." 

"  What  makes  the  dirt  all  those  different  colours, 
Uncle  Will,"  asked  Jack ;  "  In  some  places  it's 
white,  in  others  yellow  or  brown  or  black,  and  in 
some,  bright  red,  like  bricks." 

"  That  red  colour,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis, "  is  where  the 
earth  has  been  burnt.  All  through  the  soil  here 
there  are  seams  or  veins  of  a  crumbly  brown  sub- 
stance, which  is  called  lignite.  It  is  a  sort  of  coal 
about  half  made,  and  like  coal  it  will  burn.  Some- 
times a  seam  of  this  lignite  catches  fire  from  some 
cause  or  other,  and  may  burn  for  years,  baking  the 
earth  close  to  it.  The  heat  turns  it  red,  just  as 
bricks  which  have  been  burned  turn  red." 

By  this  time  they  were  passing  out  of  the  bad 
lands  and  down  into  a  flat  through  which  flowed  a 
broad  river.  There  was  no  bridge  over  it,  and  Jack 
wondered  how  they  were  going  to  get  across,  but  when 
they  came  to  the  water's  edge  the  horses  trotted  in, 
were  stopped  to  drink,  and  then  walked  on  across, 
although  the  water  came  up  to  their  bellies  and 
washed  and  gurgled  about  the  waggon,  so  that  Jack 
began  to  think  that  perhaps  they  might  be  swept 
away.  Pretty  soon  it  grew  more  shallow,  and  thea 
they  came  to  the  bank,  and  once  more  the  waggon 


THE  ROAD  TO  THE  RANCH  29 

started  off  down  the  valley  at  a  brisk  rate.  Soon 
they  crossed  a  narrow  little  stream  flowing  between 
deep  banks,  climbed  another  hilJ,  and  then  turning 
away  from  the  river,  went  up  a  narrow  valley,  shut 
in  on  one  side  by  a  high  wall  of  rock  and  on  the 
other  by  a  great  mountain  dotted  with  cedars.  On 
this  mountain  Hugh  said  there  were  some  mountain 
sheep,  and  he  pointed  out  to  Jack  tracks  in  the  road 
where  some  of  these  animals  had  crossed  that  morn- 
ing. Further  on,  in  a  broad  rolling  valley,  they 
saw  some  antelope,  but  by  this  time  the  cold  wind 
had  made  Jack  chilly  and  tired,  and  his  uncle 
Wrapped  him  up  to  the  throat  with  blankets  and 
robes,  and  propping  him  up  between  Hugh  and  him- 
self, told  him  to  go  to  sleep.  Just  as  he  was  about 
to  do  this,  something  happened  which  woke  him  up 
very  thoroughly. 


CHAPTER  IV 

A  GRIZZLY  KILLED 

JACK  was  just  dropping  off  to  sleep  when  he  heard, 
very  faintly,  Hugh's  voice,  saying,  "  Got  your  gun 
handy,  Mr.  Sturgis,  and  some  cartridges  ?  Get  it 
out  quick  then,  there's  a  bear  coming  down  from 
that  bluff,  and  he's  liable  to  cross  the  road  a  half 
mile  beyond  here  ;  I'll  run  the  horses  and  we  may 
get  there  as  soon  as  he  does ;  he  can't  hear  nor 
smell  us  in  this  wind."  The  last  part  of  this  sen- 
tence sounded  very  loud  to  Jack,  for  the  word,  bear, 
had  thoroughly  waked  him  up.  When  he  opened 
his  eyes,  he  seemed  to  have  the  seat  all  to  himself. 
His  Uncle  Will's  head  was  down  between  his  knees, 
and  he  was  feeling  under  the  waggon-seat,  while 
Hugh  was  half  standing  up  and  putting  the  whip  on 
the  horses.  They  did  not  need  much  urging  to 
make  them  run,  and  in  a  minute  the  waggon  was 
bounding  along  the  road,  jumping  and  swaying  so 
that  Jack  held  on  to  the  back  of  the  seat  as  hard  as 
he  could.  His  uncle  had  found  his  rifle,  and  was 
hurriedly  fumbling  with  the  straps  of  the  case,  and 
at  the  same  time  muttering  questions  to  Hugh,  ask- 
ing where  the  bear  was  likely  to  cross. 
30 


A  GRIZZLY  KILLED  31 

In  a  moment  more  the  rifle  was  pulled  from  its 
case,  a  cartridge  slipped  into  the  breech,  and  then 
the  waggon  topped  a  little  rise  of  ground,  and  there 
before  them,  just  crossing  the  road,  was  a  big  brown 
animal  that  looked  something  like  a  big  dog  without 
any  tail.  As  they  saw  it,  the  horses  tried  to  shy  out 
to  one  side,  but  Hugh  was  ready  for  them  and  held 
them  firmly.  Mr.  Sturgis  rose  to  his  feet  and 
raised  his  gun  to  his  shoulder,  but  Hugh  said, 
"  Hold  on,  hold  on ;  wait  till  we  get  to  where  he 
crosses  and  then  jump  out.  You  will  catch  him  as 
he  rises  the  hill."  Meantime  the  bear  had  crossed 
the  road  and  disappeared  in  a  ravine,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment more  Hugh  drew  up  the  horses,  so  that  they 
almost  reared,  checked  the  waggon,  Mr.  Sturgis 
jumped  out,  and  at  that  moment  the  bear  was  seen 
only  fifty  yards  off,  swiftly  galloping  up  the  hill. 
There  was  a  shot,  and  then  another,  and  the  bear 
turned  over  and  rolled  down  the  hill  out  of  sight. 
The  horses  danced,  plunged,  reared,  and  then  ran 
some  little  distance  before  Hugh  could  stop  them. 
But  Jack  looking  back  saw  his  uncle  wave  his  hand 
and  call  out  a  cheery  "  All  right !  " 

In  a  moment  the  horses  stopped,  and  Jack  jumped 
out  and  ran  toward  his  uncle,  not  heeding  Hugh's 
call  to  him  to  wait.  Before  he  had  reached 
Mr.  Sturgis,  however,  the  waggon  had  passed  him, 
and  when  he  got  to  the  spot  his  uncle  and 
Hugh  were  unhitching  the  horses,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment had  tied  them  to  the  hind  wheels  of  the 
waggon. 


32      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"Where's  the  bear,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack, 
"where  did  he  go  to?" 

"  I  think  he  is  down  there  in  the  ravine,  my  boy, 
but  don't  go  down  there  yet.  We'll  get  out  your 
gun  and  load  it,  and  then  we'll  go  down  and  look  for 
him." 

"  That  is  the  way  to  do  it,"  said  Hugh.  "  Don't 
never  go  near  no  game  without  your  gun,  and  a  load 
in  it,  and  above  all,  when  it  is  a  bear.  Don't  go 
near  him,  even  if  your  gun  is  loaded,  unless  you  can 
see  him  plain  and  are  sure  that  he  is  dead.  It  is 
better  to  stand  off  and  throw  rocks  at  him  for  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes  than  to  go  up  close  and  have  him 
jump  up  and  hit  you  once." 

Jack's  gun  was  soon  out  of  the  waggon,  and  when 
it  had  been  loaded,  he  walked  down  the  hill  by  his 
uncle's  side,  while  Hugh,  who  was  unarmed,  fol- 
lowed a  little  behind  them.  They  soon  reached  a 
point  where  they  could  see  into  the  bottom  of  thq 
ravine,  and  there  lay  the  bear,  doubled  up  in  a  heap 
and  apparently  dead. 

"  Roll  a  rock  down  on  him,  Hugh,"  said  Mr. 
Sturgis,  "and  let's  see  if  there  is  any  life  left  in 
him." 

Two  or  three  big  stones  rolled  down  the  steep 
slope  caused  no  movement  in  the  bear,  and  very 
slowly  they  approached  him,  but  he  did  not  now 
seem  nearly  so  big  to  Jack  as  when  he  had  crossed 
the  road. 

*  He  is  only  a  yearling,  Mr.  Sturgis,"  said  Hugh. 
44  Say  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  months  old,  but  he 


A  GRIZZLY  KILLED  33 

has  surely  got  a  nice  hide,  and  he  will  make  a  nice 
little  robe  for  the  boy  here." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  but  if  we  stop  to  skin 
him,  it  will  bring  us  mighty  late  to  the  ranch." 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack,  «  let's  skin  him ; 
what  difference  does  it  make  whether  we  get  to  the 
ranch  an  hour  sooner  or  later.  Just  think,  this  is 
the  first  big  animal  I  have  ever  seen  killed.  I  think 
we  ought  to  take  his  skin  along  with  us." 

"  All  right,  my  boy,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  we  will 
skin  him ;  it  won't  take  more  than  half  an  hour. 
Take  hold  of  his  front  paws,  Hugh,  and  drag  him 
out  to  a  level  place,  and  we'll  take  his  coat  off ;  and 
Jack,  do  you  go  down  this  ravine  a  little  way  and 
see  if  you  can  find  any  water  ;  before  we  get  through 
we'll  probably  all  want  a  drink,  and  certainly  some 
of  us  will  want  to  wash  our  hands." 

Jack  wanted  to  wait  there  and  watch  the  opera- 
tion of  skinning  the  bear,  but  he  did  as  he  was  told, 
and  after  walking  down  the  ravine  a  few  hundred 
yards,  he  found  a  place  where  a  little  water  was 
trickling  out  of  the  side  of  the  bank,  and  flowed 
away  in  a  very  thin  small  stream.  There  was  so 
little  of  it  that  it  was  impossible  for  any  one  to 
drink,  and  there  was  no  place  where  one  could  wash 
one's  hands.  He  followed  it  down  a  little  way 
further,  and  presently  it  fell  over  some  rocks 
and  into  a  little  pool,  almost  as  big  as  a  water 
bucket. 

Walking  in  the  sun  had  made  him  thirsty,  and  he 
stooped  and  took  a  swallow  or  two  of  the  water, 
3 


34      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

but,  although  it  was  clear  and  cold,  it  was  very  bit- 
ter, and  a  little  of  it  was  enough  for  him.  As  he 
started  back  to  where  the  bear  lay,  suddenly  he  saw 
coming  down  the  side  of  the  ravine  toward  him,  a 
yellowish  dog,  with  a  long  bushy  tail  and  pricked 
ears,  and  he  thought  at  once  of  the  Indian  dogs  that 
his  uncle  had  described  to  him,  and  wondered 
whether  perhaps  there  was  a  camp  of  Indians  some- 
where near.  In  a  moment  after,  the  dog  saw  him, 
paused  for  an  instant,  and  then  turning  about,  with 
long  bounds,  ran  up  the  hill,  and  after  stopping  a 
moment  at  the  crest,  it  looked  back  and  then  disap- 
peared from  view. 

When  he  got  back  to  where  the  men  were  at  work 
he  found  that  the  bear  was  already  half  skinned,  and 
while  he  watched  the  finishing  of  the  work,  he  told 
them  of  the  water  that  he  had  found  and  of  the  dog 
that  he  had  seen. 

"  I  guess  your  dog  was  a  coyote,  Jack,"  said  his 
uncle.  "  There  are  no  Indians  about  here  now,  are 
there,  Hugh?" 

"  No,  not  yet,  Mr.  Sturgis.  There's  likely  to  be  a 
camp  or  two  travelling  along  when  summer  comes, 
but  they  haven't  started  in  to  move  yet.  The  grass 
is  not  high  enough  and  the  ponies  can't  get  any 
feed.  I  expect  your  boy  saw  a  coyote." 

"  Do  you  mean  one  of  the  little  wolves  that  run 
down  antelopes,  Uncle  Will  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Yes,  one  of  those,"  said  his  uncle.  "  The  smart- 
est animal  that  travels  the  prairie,  aren't  they, 
Hugh?" 


A  GRIZZLY  KILLED  35 

"  They  surely  are,"  said  the  old  man,  as  he  gave 
a  last  cut  with  his  knife,  and  then  tore  the  hide  free 
from  the  bear.  "  Well,  now,  Mr.  Sturgis,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  I  will  take  this  hide  up  the  hill  and  tie  it 
up,  and  then  go  down  to  the  spring  and  wash  up, 
and  then  we  will  hitch  up  and  roll.  We  have  wasted 
considerable  time  here,  but  them  horses  are  able  to 
travel  good,  and  we  ought  to  get  to  the  ranch  by 
eight  o'clock  ;  before  nine,  anyhow." 

Twenty  minutes  later  the  team  was  once  more 
swiftly  trotting  along  the  smooth  road,  and  Jack, 
wrapped  up  in  robes  and  blankets,  was  cogitating  on 
bear  hunting  as  he  dropped  off  to  sleep. 

Jack  was  awakened  by  a  sharp  jerk  that  nearly 
threw  him  from  his  seat,  to  hear  Hugh  growl  : 
"  Well  I  didn't  hit  that  crossing  very  well.  Lucky 
I  slowed  up." 

The  waggon  was  passing  through  a  shallow  brook, 
flowing  down  from  mountains  which  could  be  plainly 
seen  in  the  bright  moonlight  to  the  left  of  the  road. 
Their  sides  were  patched  with  glistening  snow,  and 
one  could  follow  the  dark  irregular  outline  of  their 
crest,  cutting  off  the  star-dotted  sky,  but  Jack  could 
not  tell  whether  they  were  near  or  far  away.  To  the 
right  there  seemed  a  far  stretching  plain,  white  in  the 
moonlight.  It  was  all  strange,  and  for  a  little  while 
Jack  hardly  knew  where  he  was,  but  gradually  he 
recovered  his  wits,  and  moved  and  stretched  out  his 
legs. 

"  Awake,  Jack  ?  "  said  his  uncle.  "  We're  almost 
there  now.  Only  a  few  miles  more  and  we'll  be  at 


36      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

home  and  get  some  supper.  You'll  be  ready  for 
that,  I  guess." 

"  Yes/'  said  Jack,  "  I  feel  pretty  hungry.  It's  cold 
too,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  see  it  comes  pretty 
near  being  winter  yet  out  here.  We're  pretty  high 
up  in  the  air,  and  summer  comes  on  slow  and  don't 
stay  long  when  it  gets  here.  I  reckon  you  have 
heard  the  old  saying  that  we  have  in  this  country 
about  the  weather.  They  say  it's  nine  months  win- 
ter and  three  months  late  in  the  fall.  I  expect 
that's  because  we  have  frosts  and  snow-storms 
every  month  in  the  year.  Last  summer  in  July  we 
had  a  big  hailstorm  that  cut  down  everything  in 
the  garden  even  with  the  ground,  and  knocked  all 
the  leaves  off  the  quaking  asps  back  of  the  house. 
The  potatoes  sprouted  again  and  got  about  four 
inches  high  when  there  came  another  storm  and  cut 
'em  down  again.  So  last  year  we  didn't  have  no 
garden." 

Before  Hugh  had  finished  this  long  speech,  Jack 
had  gone  to  sleep  again,  not  to  awake  until  he  was 
lifted  from  the  waggon  at  the  ranch  and  was  carried 
up  to  the  house  in  Hugh's  strong  arms.  The  warmth 
and  light  of  the  room  they  entered  confused  him 
and  made  him  still  more  sleepy,  and  he  ate  his  sup- 
per in  a  daze  and  then  went  to  bed. 


CHAPTER  V 

ROPING  AND   RIDING 

JACK  DANVERS'  sleep  was  deep  and  dreamless  dur- 
ing his  first  night  at  the  ranch,  and  when  he  was 
awakened  next  morning  by  his  uncle's  call,  he  could 
hardly  tell  where  he  was.  As  he  jumped  out  of  bed 
he  saw  by  the  dim  light  that  came  in  through  the 
small  window  that  he  was  in  a  little  room,  furnished 
only  with  a  bed,  a  washstand,  a  chair  and  his  trunk. 
From  the  window  he  looked  out  on  some  level 
land,  a  grove  of  small  trees  and  beyond  them  a  very 
high  hill,  rising  sharply  and  strewn  with  great 
stones.  Gradually  the  drive  of  the  day  before  and 
its  incidents  came  back  to  his  memory,  and  he  knew 
that  he  was  at  the  ranch.  He  dressed  quickly,  for 
he  felt  that  there  must  be  many  strange  things  to 
see,  and  he  did  not  want  to  miss  any  of  them. 

As  soon  as  he  had  finished  dressing,  he  opened 
his  door  and  stepped  out  into  another  larger  room, 
in  which  were  chairs,  a  lounge,  a  stove  and  a  good 
many  shelves  with  books  on  them.  This  was  the 
ranch  sitting-room.  There  was  no  one  here,  but 
somewhere  not  far  off  he  could  hear  the  rattle  of 
dishes,  and  passing  through  another  room,  he  found 


38      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

iiimself  in  an  open  door-way  looking  into  the  kitchen 
where  a  pleasant-faced  young  woman  was  cooking. 
She  smiled  at  him  as  she  said,  "  Good-morning. 
Did  you  sleep  well  ?  I  guess  you  did,  and  I  don't 
believe  you  remember  much  about  getting  here  last 
night,  do  you  ?  You  were  dead  tired  and  were  al- 
most asleep  while  you  were  eating  supper,  and  went 
sound  asleep  as  soon  as  you  were  through." 

"  No,  ma'am,  I  don't  remember  getting  here  at  all. 
I  remember  the  drive  and  Uncle  Will's  killing  the 
bear,  and  the  horses  and  Hugh,  but  I  don't  remember 
-eating  supper." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Carter,  "  you  must  be  rested 
by  this  time,  and  now  we'll  have  breakfast  pretty 
soon.  Would  you  rather  sit  here  till  it  is  ready,  or 
go  out  doors  ?  " 

"  I  think  I'll  go  out  doors  and  look  around,  if 
there  is  time  before  breakfast,"  said  Jack. 

"  Oh,  there's  plenty  of  time,"  said  Mrs.  Carter. 
"  You'll  hear  the  horn  when  breakfast  is  ready." 
So  Jack  opened  the  door  and  went  out. 

Standing  in  front  of  the  low  grey  log-house,  he 
looked  down  a  little  valley,  bounded  on  either  side 
by  low  hills  and  soon  spreading  out  into  a  wide 
plain.  Very  far  away  on  the  other  side  of  the  plain 
were  high  hills,  some  of  them  brown  like  the  near-by 
prairie,  others  white,  like  chalk.  Over  these  distant 
hills  the  sun  was  just  rising,  and  all  the  broad  plain 
was  flooded  with  yellow  light.  Down  on  the  prairie 
not  very  far  from  the  house  some  antelope  were 
feeding,  and  beyond  them  on  a  hillside  some  cattle. 


ROPING  AND  RIDING  39 

To  the  left  were  low  log  buildings — stables,  Jack 
supposed — and  some  high-walled  pens.  Near  the 
door  of  one  of  the  buildings,  hens  were  picking 
about,  and  close  to  the  house  three  or  four  of  these 
were  quarrelling  with  a  lot  of  black-birds  over  a  bone 
lying  on  the  grass,  from  which  all  the  meat  had  been 
picked.  By  one  of  the  pens  calves  were  standing, 
looking  through  the  bars,  and  now  and  then  bawling 
to  the  cows  that  were  being  milked  within.  Behind 
the  house  was  a  high  mountain  on  which  grew  pines, 
and  high  up  on  its  side  a  number  of  small  animals 
were  moving  swiftly,  and  behind  them,  one  a  little 
larger  than  the  rest.  As  he  looked  at  these  animals 
they  grew  larger,  and  before  long  Jack  could  see 
that  they  were  horses,  and  that  the  last  one  was  a 
man  on  horseback,  driving  them.  They  came  to- 
ward the  house  very  fast  and  soon  were  plainly 
seen,  and  a  little  later  the  rumble  of  their  galloping 
was  heard,  and  they  crowded  into  the  corral.  The 
man  put  up  the  bars  and  rode  to  the  stable  and 
unsaddled.  Just  after  this,  the  horn  sounded,  and 
Jack  saw  his  uncle,  Hugh  and  two  other  men  come 
toward  the  house,  and  soon  all  were  seated  at  break- 
fast. 

After  the  meal  was  over,  Mr.  Sturgis  said  to  hi* 
nephew :  "  Now,  Jack,  I  am  going  to  ride  out  to 
day  to  look  for  some  horses,  and  I  am  going  U 
leave  you  and  Hugh  here  to  keep  camp.  Hugh  is 
going  over  into  the  pasture,  and  if  he  has  time  after 
he  gets  back,  he  will  give  you  some  lessons  in  shoot- 
ing. You  had  better  go  with  him.  You  can  ride 


40      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

Old  Grey  for  the  present,  until  you  begin  to  feel  at 
home  on  a  horse.  I  am  going  out  now  to  saddle 
up.  Do  you  want  to  come  down  to  the  corral?" 
They  walked  down  toward  the  big  pen  into  which 
Jack  had  seen  the  horses  driven,  but  before  they  got 
to  it  a  cloud  of  dust  rose  from  it,  and  the  horses 
were  seen  to  be  running  around  in  it.  Jack  asked : 

"  What  is  frightening  the  horses,  Uncle  Will?  " 

"  The  men  are  catching  up  their  riding  animals/' 
said  Mr.  Sturgis.  "  Run  ahead  and  climb  up  on  the 
fence,  if  you  want  to  see  them  roping." 

Jack  ran  on  and  clambered  up  on  the  top  rail,  just 
as  another  great  cloud  of  dust  rose.  He  saw  the 
horses  all  standing,  huddled  in  one  corner  of  the 
pen,  but  one  was  following  one  of  the  men  who 
held  the  end  of  a  long  rope  which  was  about  the 
horse's  neck.  Just  then  Hugh,  carrying  some  ropes 
in  his  hand,  came  out  of  the  stable,  and  unhooking 
the  gate  of  the  pen,  went  in,  hooked  the  gate  be- 
hind him,  and  walked  toward  the  horses.  As  he 
saw  Jack  on  the  fence  he  called  out : 

"  You've  come  down  to  get  your  horse,  have  you  ? 
Before  very  long  we'll  have  you  coming  in  here  and 
catching  him  for  yourself.  You'll  have  to  learn  to 
throw  a  rope."  He  walked  slowly  toward  the 
horses,  and  soon  some  of  them  started  to  run  around 
the  pen,  always  keeping  close  to  the  fence.  Hugh 
held  the  long  rope  in  both  hands,  the  part  in  his 
left  hand  being  in  a  small  coil,  while  from  his  right 
hand  a  long  loop  trailed  behind  him  in  the  dust. 
Suddenly  he  threw  his  right  hand  forward,  the  large 


ROPING  AND  RIDING  41 

loop  flew  out  and  settled  over  the  head  of  a  small 
grey  horse  that  was  galloping  by.  The  horse 
stopped  short  and  turned  toward  Hugh,  who  walked 
away  toward  the  gate  of  the  pen,  gathering  up  the 
rope  until  the  horse  was  quite  close  to  him.  He 
led  the  horse  through  the  gate,  tied  him  to  the 
fence  outside,  and  taking  another  rope  went  back 
into  the  pen. 

"  Climb  over,"  he  said  to  Jack,  "  and  come  here. 
You  might  as  well  get  used  to  horses  now  as  any 
other  time."  Jack  climbed  down  the  bars  into  the 
pen,  though  it  did  seem  to  him  as  if  it  were  rather 
a  dangerous  place,  for  he  did  not  feel  at  all  sure 
that  the  horses  might  not  run  against  and  knock 
him  down,  and  then  run  over  and  trample  him  to 
death.  They  seemed  to  rush  about  like  a  lot  of 
wild  creatures.  Just  as  he  got  to  the  ground,  and 
was  walking  over  to  Hugh,  the  gate  opened  again  and 
his  uncle  came  in,  and  he  too  had  a  rope  in  his  hand. 

"  That's  right,  my  boy,"  said  his  uncle.  "  You 
can't  begin  too  soon.  I  see  that  Hugh  has  caught 
your  horse ;  do  you  think  that  you  can  catch  his?  " 

"  I  don't  believe  he  can  do  it  the  first  time  or 
two,  Mr.  Sturgis.  We'll  have  to  practise  a  little  on 
a  post  first,  but  I  thought  he  might  as  well  get 
down  here  among  the  horses,"  said  Hugh.  "  Now, 
son,  you  watch  me  close.  Notice  everything  I  do, 
so  that  you'll  remember  next  time.  Now,  you  see 
this  rope  is  lying  on  the  ground.  Just  watch  how  I 
take  it  up  and  hold  it." 

Jack  saw  that  Hugh  took  the  loop  of  the  rope 


42      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

with  his  right  hand,  and  the  free  end  in  a  small  coil 
in  his  left  hand,  holding  the  end  of  the  rope  pressed 
against  the  palm  of  the  hand  with  his  little  finger. 
"  Now,  d'ye  see,"  he  said,  "  how  I  hold  it  ?  Your 
right  hand  must  hold  both  the  loop  and  the  free 
rope  about  a  foot  and  a  half  from  the  hondu — that's 
the  eye  the  rope  runs  through.  Then  it  will  always 
keep  open  and  run  free.  Always  give  a  twist  to  the 
rope  as  you  gather  it ;  then  it  won't  kink  on  you. 
Now,  watch  my  right  arm  and  the  loop  of  the  rope." 
He  moved  his  right  arm  a  little  forward,  turning  his 
hand  as  he  did  so,  and  the  loop  flew  forward  and 
lay  spread  out  open  on  the  ground  just  before  him. 
It  seemed  very  easy. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  I'll  catch  old  Baldy,  and 
we'll  be  going."  He  walked  toward  the  horses  and 
they  started  to  run,  and  as  they  started,  he  began 
to  swing  the  rope  around  his  head,  and  the  loop 
was  partly  open.  In  a  moment  his  hand  reached 
forward,  the  loop  flew  out  and  settled  over  three  or 
four  horses  that  were  crowded  together,  and  they 
all  stopped.  Then  a  big  bald-faced  roan  came  out 
of  the  group  toward  Hugh,  and  sure  enough  the 
rope  was  about  his  neck.  Hugh  started  toward  the 
corral  gate,  leading  the  horse,  and  Jack  was  just 
going  to  follow,  when  the  horses  started  again,  and, 
turning,  he  saw  his  uncle  swinging  his  rope,  and  in 
a  moment  he  had  his  horse,  and  they  all  went  out  of 
the  corral  together.  The  gate  was  left  open  so  that 
the  horses  that  were  not  needed  might  go  out  on 
the  prairie  again. 


ROPING  AND  RIDING  43 

The  two  horses  were  led  up  to  the  stable  door,, 
and  there  Hugh  dropped  the  ropes  on  the  ground, 
leaving  them  standing  there,  not  tied  to  anything. 
As  he  entered  the  door  he  said  to  Jack : 

"  Come  in,  son,  and  I'll  show  you  your  saddle  and 
bridle  and  blanket.  You  know  every  man  here  has 
his  own  saddle,  and  no  one  ever  uses  it  except  the 
man  that  owns  it.  Your  saddle  is  here,  and  you 
ought  always  to  hang  it  on  its  peg,  and  hang  bridle,, 
blanket  and  rope  over  it,  so  that  they  won't  get  dirty 
or  be  gnawed  by  anything,  and  so  you'll  always 
know  where  they  are.  You  see,  if  you  lose  your 
things  you'll  have  to  go  without  any.  No  one'll* 
lend  you  theirs.  Now,  the  first  thing  you've  got  to> 
learn  is  how  to  saddle  your  horse.  I'll  saddle  old 
Baldy  first,  and  you  watch  me  close  and  try  to  see- 
what  I  do.  You  see,"  he  said,  as  he  took  down  from 
a  peg  a  great  saddle  with  a  high  horn  and  big. 
wooden  stirrups,  "  these  saddles  that  we  use  out 
here  are  different  from  the  little  flat  things  that  they 
ride  in  the  States.  I  saw  one  of  them  once.  An 
Englishman  had  it,  and  it  was  queer  for  a  fact.  I 
thought  the  man  would  slip  off  it  every  time  the 
horse  gave  a  jump,  but  he  didn't.  He  stuck  to  it 
good.  Only  he  got  all  raw  after  he'd  been  riding  it 
a  month  or  two.  Now,  these  saddles  are  hard,  made 
of  wood  and  leather,  so  we  have  to  put  plenty  of 
blanket  under  'em  to  keep  the  horse's  back  from 
getting  sore.  You  see,  this  blanket  is  folded  so 
that  it's  just  a  little  longer  and  a  little  wider  than 
the  saddle.  There's  about  three  or  four  inches  in 


44      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

front  of  the  saddle,  and  three  or  four  behind.  Now 
I  throw  it  on  old  Baldy,  so  that  the  front  edge  comes 
just  about  where  the  mane  ends  on  the  withers,  and 
then  I  pass  my  hand  all  over  it  to  see  that  there 
ain't  any  wrinkles  in  the  folds.  If  wrinkles  are  there 
they're  liable  to  press  on  the  horse's  baek  and  make 
it  sore.  When  it's  all  smooth,  the  saddle  goes  on 
like  this,"  and  grasping  the  heavy  saddle  by  its  horn 
he  swung  it  over  the  horse's  back,  so  that  stirrups 
and  cinches  swung  clear,  and  the  saddle  fell  in  its 
place.  "  Now,  these  cinches,  you  see,  come  up  to 
meet  the  latigo  straps  on  this  side.  You  reach 
under  the  horse's  chest  and  get  hold  of  the  forward 
cinch  first,  slip  the  latigo  through  the  ring,  and  then 
through  the  saddle  ring,  and  again  through  the 
cinch  ring  and  saddle  ring,  and  then  pull,  until  the 
cinch  is  tight,  so,  and  tie  the  strap  like  that.  The 
flank  cinch  you  don't  pull  so  tight ;  if  you  pull  on 
that  too  much,  it  is  liable  to  make  your  horse  buck. 
Now,  the  bridle ;  always  leave  your  reins  hanging 
down  over  the  head  when  you  get  off,  and  then  your 
horse  won't  move. 

"  Now,  I'll  saddle  up  your  horse.  I  guess  you'll 
find  those  stirrups  about  right.  I  fixed  'em  for  you 
last  night  when  you  was  in  bed.  I'll  tie  up  your 
rope  here  to  these  strings.  You  won't  need  it  with 
Old  Grey.  He  won't  run  away,  even  if  you  do  get 
off  and  go  and  leave  him."  Then  he  saddled  the 
grey  with  Jack's  saddle. 

"  Now,  let's  see  you  mount.  Here,  stand  by  your 
horse's  left  shoulder  and  gather  up  your  reins  in 


ROPING  AND  RIDING  45 

your  left  hand.  Now,  catch  hold  of  the  mane  with 
the  same  hand.  Now,  face  a  little  toward  the  saddle 
and  take  the  stirrup  in  your  right  hand,  turn  it  so 
that  the  open  end  is  toward  you,  and  put  your  left 
foot  in  it.  Now,  take  hold  of  the  horn  and  pull 
yourself  up  from  the  ground.  Go  ahead,  you  won't 
fall ;  that's  it ;  now,  put  your  leg  over,  and  there  you 
are.  After  two  or  three  times  you'll  be  all  right." 

As  he  spoke  thus,  Hugh  stepped  into  his  own 
saddle  and,  stooping,  began  to  gather  up  his  rope 
which  was  still  on  the  ground,  and  then  lifting  his 
bridle  rein,  his  horse  started  to  walk  toward  the 
house.  Jack  sat  on  his  horse,  feeling  a  little  queer 
and  wondering  what  he  should  do  when  his  horse 
began  to  move.  But  it  did  not  move  ;  it  stood 
there  with  its  head  hanging  down  as  if  asleep.  In  a 
moment  Hugh  looked  around  and  called  out,  "  Come 
on,  son,  lift  your  bridle  rein  and  put  your  heel 
against  his  side  and  he'll  start."  Jack  did  this,  and 
his  horse  seemed  to  wake  up,  and  moved  on. 

As  they  rode  on,  side  by  side,  Hugh  explained  to 
Jack  which  hand  he  should  hold  his  reins  in,  how  to 
guide  his  horse,  by  moving  his  hand  to  the  left  or 
to  the  right,  so  that  the  reins  would  press  on  the 
side  of  the  neck  away  from  that  toward  which  he 
wished  to  turn,  and  how  to  hold  on  to  his  horse 
with  his  legs.  He  told  him  a  good  deal  about  riding 
and  roping  and  handling  horses  and  cattle,  but 
much  of  it  Jack  hardly  understood,  and  perhaps 
Hugh  thought  of  this,  for  in  a  little  while  he  began 
to  point  out  the  different  hills  and  stream  valleys, 


46      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  to  tell  Jack  the  name  of  each.  He  showed  him 
the  points  of  the  compass,  and  explained  to  him  how 
to  guess  the  direction  by  the  position  of  the  sun  in 
the  sky. 

They  were  riding  along  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
and  crossing  little  valleys  with  steep  ridges  between. 
Down  each  valley  ran  a  foaming  brook  and  on  each 
ridge  grew  sage-brush,  and  among  the  sage-brush 
were  many  great  rocks,  most  of  them  smoothed  and 
polished.  A  little  way  off,  these  big  stones  some- 
times looked  like  animals  lying  down. 

"  We're  going  over  to  look  at  some  cows  that 
we've  been  keeping  in  this  pasture  all  winter,"  said 
Hugh,  as  they  rode  up  one  of  the  hillsides.  "  They're 
right  tame  and  we  can  ride  right  in  among  them. 
They're  beginning  to  have  their  calves  now,  and  I 
like  to  go  over  every  day  and  look  at  'em,  to  try  to 
keep  'em  together.  There's  lots  of  coyotes  around, 
and  they  take  a  calf  now  and  then,  if  they  can  get 
it  and  its  mother  away  from  the  bunch.  I  put  some 
baits  out  the  last  heavy  snow  we  had,  and  got  five  of 
'em,  and  the  next  snow  that  comes  I'll  put  out  some 
more.  They're  getting  pretty  smart  though,  and 
don't  take  poison  like  they  used  to  in  old  times." 

"  How  do  you  manage  to  poison  them,  Hugh  ?  " 
asked  Jack.  Hugh  did  not  answer,  but  pointed 
across  a  valley  to  a  bit  of  hillside  that  had  just  come 
in  view,  and  said,  "  There's  a  bunch  of  coyotes  now 
trying  to  get  a  calf.  Come  on."  And  without  a 
word  more  he  galloped  away.  Jack  had  just  time 
to  see  that  he  was  riding  toward  an  animal  about 


ROPING  AND  RIDING  47 

which  a  lot  of  smaller  animals  were  dancing,  when 
suddenly  old  Grey  threw  up  his  head  and  began  to 
gallop  after  Hugh,  and  for  a  few  minutes  Jack  had 
all  he  could  do  to  keep  from  falling  off  his  horse,  as 
it  wound  in  and  out  among  the  rocks  and  the  sage- 
brush. It  seemed  pretty  rough  riding,  and  he  had 
an  awful  pain  in  his  side,  but  pretty  soon  his  horse 
stopped  galloping  and  began  to  walk,  and  he  saw 
that  he  was  near  Hugh,  who  was  sitting  on  his  horse, 
looking  at  a  cow,  close  by  which  stood  a  little  totter- 
ing calf.  The  cow  seemed  angry  and  shook  her 
head  as  if  she  would  like  to  charge  on  the  horses. 

"  Look  at  that  fool  of  a  critter,"  said  the  old  man, 
"  she  left  the  bunch  and  came  near  losing  her  calf 
by  coyotes,  and  now  she  wants  to  fight  us  for 
driving  them  off.  I  always  did  say  that  cows  had 
no  sense." 

"  Were  those  coyotes  that  were  running  around  ? 
I  could  not  see  very  well,  because  old  Grey  was 
going  so  fast,  and  I  had  a  hard  time  to  keep  from 
falling  off,"  said  Jack. 

"  Well,  well,  you'll  have  to  learn  to  stick  on  to 
your  horse.  I  forgot  that  you  wan't  used  to  riding. 
We'll  sure  have  to  practise  riding,"  said  Hugh. 
"  Now,  let's  drive  this  heifer  over  to  the  bunch. 
She's  in  big  luck  that  she  didn't  lose  that  calf, 
young  as  it  is." 

"  I  thought  coyotes  were  little  animals,  and  I 
should  think  that  a  big  cow  could  keep  them  away, 
and  that  all  the  calf  would  have  to  do  would  be  to 
stay  close  to  its  mother." 


48      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

rt  That  would  be  all  right,  son,  if  the  cow  and 
calf  had  just  a  little  bit  of  sense,  but  you  see  that's 
just  what  they  ain't  got.  The  coyotes  get  around 
them,  and  first  one  and  then  another  makes  a  dash 
at  the  cow  and  tries  to  make  her  mad,  or  to  scare 
her  calf  away  from  her.  If  the  calf  leaves  its  mother 
only  a  little  way  it  gets  a  bite,  and  if  the  cow  gets 
mad  and  begins  to  chase  the  coyotes,  very  likely 
the  calf  gets  left  behind,  and  may  be  gets  two  or 
three  bites,  or  even  gets  pulled  down.  The  only 
safe  place  for  a  calf  is  right  close  by  its  mother's 
side.  Now,  I  believe  that  cow  has  quieted  down,  so 
that  we  can  start  her  toward  the  bunch.  You  stop 
here  till  I  see." 

Hugh  rode  toward  the  cow,  calling  at  her,  and 
after  a  moment  she  turned  and  walked  away  from 
him,  the  calf  staggering  at  her  side.  "  Come  on," 
called  Hugh.  «  She'll  go  all  right  now." 

They  rode  on  behind  the  cow  for  a  mile  or  two, 
and  then,  after  crossing  a  ridge,  saw  down  in  the 
flat  before  them  more  than  a  hundred  cows  and 
calves.  They  rode  down  among  them,  when  the 
cow  that  they  had  been  driving  stopped,  and  then 
after  Hugh  had  looked  at  some  of  the  animals,  he 
said,  "  Now,  I  am  going  up  there  where  there's  a 
warm  spot  to  smoke.  After  that,  we'll  go  back  to 
the  house." 

A  little  way  up  the  valley  was  a  clump  of  trees, 
and  near  these  the  two  stopped,  dismounted,  and 
threw  down  their  reins  and  sat  down,  while  the 
Horses  fed  near  by. 


CHAPTER  VI 

AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE 

IT  was  warm  and  pleasant  where  they  sat,  in  the 
sun  and  out  of  the  wind,  though  on  the  mountain 
behind  them  great  drifts  of  snow  lay  in  the  ravines. 
Hugh  had  taken  from  his  pocket  a  black  wooden 
pipe  and  a  plug  of  tobacco,  and  was  shaving  off  the 
tobacco  into  the  palm  of  his  hand.  Soon  he  had  a 
pipeful,  and  crushing  it  between  his  palms,  he  filled 
his  pipe  and  lighted  it.  As  he  leaned  back  and 
blew  out  the  streams  of  white  smoke  from  his 
nostrils,  he  pointed  to  a  near-by  hill  and  said : 

"We'll  go  around  that  hill  going  back,  and  I'll 
show  you  a  place  where  there  was  quite  a  killing  of 
Indians  a  good  many  years  back.  It  was  before  my 
time  in  this  country,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  but 
I  knew  some  of  the  men  that  was  in  the  fight,  if  you 
can  call  it  a  fight  where  there  wasn't  no  fighting. 
There's  lots  of  old  lodge  poles  and  bones  lying  on 
the  ground  there  yet,  and  I  can  remember  years 
ago,  they  was  old  rotten  robes  and  all  kinds  of  truck 
lying  around.  The  men  that  did  the  killing  didn't 
carry  anything  away.  They  just  killed  everything 
in  the  camp  that  was  alive,  and  then  went  off  and 
left  it." 

4  49 


50      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"  I  think  I've  heard  my  uncle  tell  about  that,  but 
I  wish  you  would  tell  me  the  story,  Hugh.  I'd  like 
to  hear  it,"  said  Jack. 

"  I'll  tell  you  all  I've  heard  of  it,  but  let's  wait 
till  we  get  to  the  place.  Now  we've  got  to  sit  here 
and  smoke,  and  then  we'll  go  home  that  way,  and 
then  this  afternoon  I  want  you  to  take  your  rifle 
and  come  out  and  we'll  see  how  it's  sighted.  Then 
maybe  in  two  or  three  days  we'll  go  out  and  kill  a 
buck  antelope.  That's  about  the  only  meat  that's 
good  now.  Well,"  he  continued  after  a  time,  as  he 
knocked  the  ashes  from  his  pipe,  "  let's  be  moving. 
Let's  see  you  mount  now.  That's  good. 

"  Now,  we'll  have  to  ride  a  little  faster  if  we're 
going  to  stop  at  that  old  killing  ground.  So  come 
on.  Try  to  hold  your  saddle  tight  between  your 
legs,  and  swing  with  your  horse.  You'll  get  into  it 
in  only  a  short  while.  Come  on,  now." 

Hugh  started  his  horse,  and  Jack  did  the  same, 
and  they  galloped  off  together.  At  first  the  boy 
bounced  about  a  good  deal,  but  after  a  little  he 
began  to  see  what  Hugh  meant,  and  by  sitting  back 
a  little  in  the  saddle  and  easing  himself  with  his  toes 
when  the  horse  struck  the  ground,  he  sat  more  com- 
fortably, and  before  he  had  gone  very  far  he  began 
to  enjoy  his  ride.  The  cool  wind  blew  against  his 
face  and  through  his  hair,  the  sun  was  bright,  little 
birds  rose  from  the  prairie  as  they  galloped  along, 
and  it  was  very  pleasant,  He  looked  up  at  Hugh, 
who  was  watching  him  with  a  kindly  smile,  and 
laughed  outright.  "  It's  splendid,  isn't  it  ?  "  he  said. 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  51 

Hugh  answered  something,  but  the  wind  blew  his 
words  away. 

Presently  Hugh  drew  in  his  horse  and  they  turned 
and  rode  up  over  a  little  hill  and  stopped,  looking 
across  a  narrow  valley  through  which  a  little  stream 
flowed.  On  the  other  side,  only  a  short  way  off,  in 
a  half  circle,  rose  another  hill  on  which  grew  many 
cedar  bushes  among  the  great  rocks.  In  the  valley 
many  grey  sticks  were  lying  on  the  ground,  and  here 
and  there  among  the  sticks  were  spots  of  white. 
"  There's  the  place,"  said  Hugh,  "  where  the  camp 
was  wiped  out.  Let's  'light  down  here,  and  I'll  fill 
my  pipe  and  tell  you  the  story." 

When  his  pipe  was  going  well  he  turned  to  Jack, 
and  said :  "  It  was  a  camp  of  fifteen  lodges  of  'Ra- 
pahoes,  and  the  white  men  was  a  bunch  of  thirty 
trappers.  This  is  the  way  I  heard  it.  It  was  more 
than  forty  years  ago  that  a  war-party  of  'Rapahoes 
attacked  a  small  train  of  emigrants  and  killed  them 
all,  except  one  young  boy  about  as  old  as  you,  who 
hid  in  the  brush  when  the  charge  was  made.  A  few 
days  later  a  couple  of  trappers  came  along  that  way 
and  found  the  boy.  He  told  them  the  story,  and 
when  they  looked  around  over  the  place  where  the 
killing  was  done,  they  found  that  it  was  'Rapahoes 
that  done  it.  These  two  men  took  the  boy  with 
them,  and  they  made  up  their  minds  that  the  'Rapa- 
hoes had  got  to  sweat  for  this,  and  when  they  got 
into  the  Fort  they  told  other  men  about  it,  and  they 
all  figured  on  it  the  same  way. 

"  This  killing  was  done  in  the  summer,  and  the  next 


52      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

spring,  when  the  men  were  coming  in  from  their 
trapping  they  camped  somewheres  near  here  in  the 
hills,  and  stopped  two  or  three  days.  Before  they 
started  on  into  the  Fort,  one  of  the  men  who  was 
out  hunting  saw  a  camp  of  Indians  coming — a  small 
party — and  he  watched  'em  until  they  camped,  and 
then  crawled  up  close  to  the  lodges.  After  he'd 
watched  them  awhile,  he  made  out  that  they  were 
'Rapahoes,  and  he  took  the  news  to  camp.  The 
men  there  turned  out,  and  during  the  night  they  got 
all  around  the  Indians  and  cached  on  the  hillside 
among  the  cedars  and  rocks.  You  can  think  how  it 
must  have  been  that  night,  the  lodges  all  standing 
here  white  in  the  darkness,  and  the  men  lying  hid 
on  the  hillside  waiting  for  day.  At  last  it  began  to 
grow  grey  in  the  east,  and  then  light,  and  pretty 
soon  a  smoke  began  to  come  from  one  lodge  and 
then  from  another,  and  then  a  man  stepped  out,  or 
a  woman  started  down  to  the  creek  to  get  water,  or 
a  boy  to  bring  in  the  horses,  and  then  the  first  shot 
came  and  the  people  began  to  run  out,  and  to  run 
this  away  and  that  away,  but  as  fast  as  they  came 
out  they  were  shot  down.  After  all  the  people 
were  killed,  they  killed  the  dogs  and  horses ; 
everything  that  there  was  alive,  and  then  they 
went  away.  They  never  went  down  into  the 
camp." 

He  paused  to  relight  his  pipe,  and  Jack  said: 
"  But  how  did  they  know  that  these  were  the  people 
who  killed  the  emigrants  ?  " 

"  They  didn't,"  said  Hugh,  "  but  they  knew  that 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  53 

they  were  'Rapahoes.  That's  the  way  it  used  to  be 
in  them  days  ;  if  a  Piegan  or  a  Sioux,  or  a  Cheyenne 
killed  a  white  man,  his  friends  killed  the  next  Indian 
they  met  of  the  tribe  that  had  done  the  killing. 
The  Indians  did  the  same,  and  many  a  man  has  been 
killed  in  revenge  for  something  that  he  had  never 
heard  of." 

"  That  seems  very  unfair,"  said  Jack,  "  I  never 
heard  of  anything  like  it  before." 

"  Well,  it  don't  seem  just  right ;  that's  so,"  said 
Hugh,,  "  but  anyhow,  that's  the  way  it  used  to  b«»  in 
old  times.  Come  on  now.  Let's  go  down  to  where 
the  camp  stood." 

They  rode  down  to  the  little  flat  and  stopped 
their  horses  in  the  middle  of  this  old  camp-ground, 
Hugh  pointed  to  several  spots  where  there  were  a 
few  broken,  bent  and  weathered  sticks,  and  said : 
u  You  see,  the  lodges  stood  wherever  you  see  those 
lodge  poles.  If  you  look  in  the  middle  of  each  of 
those  circles  you  will  find  the  old  ashes  of  the  fire 
and  the  stones  that  were  around  it.  See  here !  " 
Dismounting,  he  walked  to  one  of  the  circles  and 
picked  up  two  or  three  pieces  of  charred  wood, 
which  he  held  up.  "  That  fire  once  cooked  a  man's 
dinner,  and  look  here !  "  he  added,  stooping  down 
and  feeling  in  the  dirt  for  something  which  he  re- 
leased with  a  hard  pull  "  Here's  a  knife,  a  regular 
old-fashioned  bowie-knife  ;  what  we  used  to  call  an 
Arkansas  toothpick."  He  knocked  the  heavy  blade 
against  a  stone,  to  free  it  from  the  dirt  which  clung 
to  it,  and  passed  it  to  Jack. 


54      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"  Why,  what  a  big  knife,"  said  Jack.  "  It's  almost 
like  a  sword  ;  but  it  isn't  very  sharp." 

"  Not  very,"  said  Hugh,  "  but  notice  how  it's 
whetted,  round  on  one  side  and  flat  on  the  other. 
That's  the  way  Indians  always  whet  their  knives. 
Queer,  isn't  it  ?  Let's  look  around  for  something 
more.  Let  your  horse  go,  after  you've  thrown 
down  the  reins ;  he  won't  move."  The  two  sepa- 
rated and  began  to  look  over  the  ground,  and  in  a 
moment  Jack  called  out  in  a  solemn  way.  "  Oh, 
Hugh,  look  here  ;  see  what  I  have  found  !  "  and  as 
the  old  man  came  up  to  him,  he  pointed  out  a  human 
skull  that  lay  half  buried  in  the  dirt  in  a  little 
washout.  "That's  one  of  'em, "  said  Hugh,  as  he 
picked  it  up.  It  was  very  old,  grey  with  weather, 
and  all  the  teeth  had  fallen  out.  Higher  up  the  hill 
were  splinters  of  bones  and  even  some  whole  bones 
of  legs  and  arms,  and  sticking  out  of  the  ground 
among  them  was  a  long  piece  of  iron,  which  when 
dragged  from  its  resting-place,  proved  to  be  a  rifle 
barrel. 

"  Well,  now,"  remarked  Hugh,  "  if  we  keep  this 
up  we'll  have  a  horse-load  of  truck  to  pack  home 
with  us." 

They  looked  further,  gathering  up  one  thing  after 
another,  and  at  length  when  they  were  ready  to  go 
home  they  had  five  Indian  skulls,  the  rifle  barrel, 
the  knife,  an  old-fashioned  T.  Gray  axe,  such  as  was 
used  in  trade  with  the  Indians  in  early  days,  some 
pieces  of  the  wood  of  saddles,  a  couple  of  elk-horn 
fleshers  and  a  stone  scraper.  All  these  things  were 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  55 

very  old  ;  the  iron  deeply  rusted,  the  bones  and 
wood  grey  and  split  with  age  and  weather. 

Hugh  bundled  these  things  into  his  coat  and  tied 
it  on  behind  his  saddle,  and  they  set  out  for  the 
ranch.  Just  as  they  got  to  the  corral,  the  dinner 
horn  sounded,  and  after  unsaddling  and  putting 
their  treasures  upon  the  roof,  which  Hugh  easily 
reached  from  the  ground,  they  went  to  the  house. 
Jack  thought  that  he  had  never  tasted  a  dinner 
quite  as  good  as  that  one,  and  when  he  had  finished 
he  felt  quite  uncomfortable. 

A  little  while  after  dinner,  Hugh  said  to  Jack: 
"  Now,  son,  go  in  and  bring  out  your  rifle,  and  let's 
see  how  it's  sighted  and  how  it  pulls  off.  A  man 
always  must  learn  how  his  gun  shoots  before  he  can 
expect  to  kill  anything.  I've  seen  young  fellows 
from  the  States  come  out  to  hunt,  and  start  in  and 
shoot  away  a  heap  of  ammunition  without  hitting 
anything,  and  come  to  find  out,  they  had  never 
sighted  their  guns,  and  didn't  know  anything  about 
where  they  shot.  'Course  they  couldn't  hit  any- 
thing.  You  get  a  box  of  ca'tridges  and  your  gun, 
and  we'll  try  to  find  out  just  what  it  can  do,  and 
afterwards  what  you  can  do." 

When  the  gun  was  in  his  hands  he  explained  its 
working  to  his  hearer,  and  then  took  it  apart,  put  it 
together  again,  and  told  Jack  to  do  this,  correcting 
his  mistakes  and  telling  him  a  good  deal  about  guns 
in  general  and  this  gun  in  particular.  Then  he 
proposed  to  go  out  on  the  prairie  to  shoot  at  a 
mark,  and  told  Jack  to  carry  his  gun  and  to  hold  it 


56      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

so  it  would  not  point  at  any  one.  "  I'm  always  scary 
about  a  gun/'  he  said,  "and  the  older  I  get  the  more 
afraid  of  'em  I  am.  I've  seen  a  heap  of  accidents 
in  my  time  from  guns,  and  once,  when  I  was  young, 
I  came  near  killing  my  best  friend,  just  by  foolish- 
ness. So  I  like  to  see  everybody  as  careful  of  a 
gun  as  he  knows  how  to  be.  You've  been  told,  I 
expect,  never  to  point  your  gun  at  anything  except 
what  you  mean  to  shoot  at.  This  business  of  sight- 
ing your  gun  at  people  and  animals,  and  saying  to 
yourself,  *  Oh,  couldn't  I  just  hit  that,'  is  just  baby 
play,  and  I  don't  think  there's  any  need  to  tell  you 
not  to  do  that.  There's  another  thing.  Don't  carry 
a  ca'tridge  in  your  gun  unless  you're  expecting  game 
to  jump  up  in  front  of  you  any  time.  Don't  carry 
your  gun  loaded  on  your  horse.  Something  may 
happen.  You  may  kill  the  man  you're  riding  with, 
or  his  horse,  or  your  own  horse.  In  old  times  we 
had  to  carry  our  guns  loaded,  but  since  we've  got 
these  britch-loaders  it  ain't  needful.  I  expect  you'd 
feel  mighty  mean  if  you  killed  a  man,  just  by  your 
carelessness,  or  if  he  killed  you  the  same  way.  I 
came  mighty  near  getting  killed  that  way  once  by 
an  Indian  I  was  travelling  with.  We  sat  down  side 
by  side  on  top  of  a  high  hill  to  look  over  the  coun- 
try, and  he  had  his  rifle  across  his  knees  with  the 
muzzle  pointing  toward  me,  and  he  was  playing 
with  the  hammer  of  his  gun,  raising  and  lowering  it. 
I  didn't  like  it  very  much,  and  got  up  and  walked 
away,  thinking  I'd  come  back  and  sit  down  on  the 
other  side  of  him.  In  less  than  a  minute  after  I 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  57 

moved,  his  gun  went  off,  and  if  I  had  been  sitting 
there  the  ball  would  have  gone  through  me.  I  was 
scared  some  when  I  thought  how  near  I'd  come  to 
being  bored  through,  but  I  wasn't  a  patch  on  the 
Indian.  He  was  scared  grey.  You  see  it  was 
known  that  he  and  I  were  together,  and  if  he  had 
killed  me  by  accident,  it  would  have  been  hard  for 
him  to  prove  it,  and  he'd  likely  have  got  killed  for 
murdering  me. 

"  We'll  try  the  gun  at  that  hill  over  there.  Do 
you  see  that  white  rock,  the  small  one  to  the  left  of 
that  sage  bush?  That's  about  a  hundred  yards 
away.  Load  your  gun  and  shoot  at  that.  First 
sight  at  the  rock.  See  that  the  top  of  the  foresight 
just  shows  over  the  notch  of  the  hind  sight.  Hold 
the  gun  tight  to  your  shoulder  and  pull  the  trigger 
slowly.  Try  to  hold  your  gun  steady  on  the  mark, 
and  when  the  sight  is  on  it,  pull.  Don't  load  it 
yet." 

Jack  had  been  listening  carefully  and  trying  to 
remember  all  that  Hugh  had  said  to  him,  and  now 
he  raised  the  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  sighted  at 
the  stone.  He  was  surprised  to  see  how  large  it 
looked  through  the  sights  of  the  rifle,  and  how  it 
seemed  to  jump  about.  He  could  not  hold  the 
gun  steady,  and  at  last  took  it  down,  saying,  "  I 
can't  hold  it  still." 

"  Try  it  a  few  times,  and  then  you  can  fire  a  shot. 
Put  your  gun  up  and,  as  soon  as  the  foresight  is  on 
the  mark,  pull."  Jack  did  this  two  or  three  times, 
and  the  last  time  said,  "  That  time  I  thiflk  I  would 


58      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

have  hit  it."  "  Good/'  said  Hugh.  "  Now  put  a 
ca'tridge  in  the  gun  and  shoot.  Remember,  you 
must  keep  the  butt  of  your  gun  pressed  close  to  your 
shoulder.  If  you  don't  do  that,  the  gun  will  kick 
your  shoulder  and  hurt.  I  don't  want  that  to 
happen,  it  might  spoil  your  shooting."  Jack  put  a 
cartridge  in  the  gun,  closed  the  breech,  and  partly 
raised  the  gun  to  his  shoulder. 

"Haven't  you   forgot  something?"  said  Hugh. 

"  I  don't  know  ;  what  ?  "  answered  Jack. 

"  We  most  generally  cock  our  guns  before  we 
shoot,"  said  Hugh,  drily.  A  little  ashamed,  Jack 
cocked  his  gun,  aimed  and  fired.  At  the  report  he 
was  pushed  back  a  little,  but  he  was  made  glad  by 
seeing  a  little  puff  of  dust  rise  from  the  ground 
somewhere  near  the  stone. 

"  That  was  a  right  good  shot,"  said  Hugh  ear 
nestly.  "  If  you  can  do  as  well  as  that  every  time-, 
we'll  be  sending  you  out  to  get  meat  for  the  ranch 
pretty  soon.  The  ball  struck  the  ground  only  two 
or  three  inches  to  the  left  of  the  rock.  That  shot 
would  have  killed  an  antelope  if  you'd  aimed  at  his 
heart.  Try  another,  and  let's  see  if  you  can  do  it 
again." 

The  second  shot  was  not  quite  so  good,  and  when 
Jack  took  down  the  gun  he  said  to  Hugh :  "  It 
kicked  harder  that  time." 

"  Not  so,"  was  the  reply,  "you  forgot  to  hold  the 
butt  close  to  your  shoulder,  as  I  told  you  to.  You 
must  always  do  that.  After  a  little,  you  will  do  it 
without  thinking  about  it.  Now  let  me  fire  two  or 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  59 

three  shots.  I  want  to  see  how  the  sights  are  my- 
self." 

He  fired  several  shots,  the  first  two  striking  a  little 
above  the  mark,  the  third  just  below  it,  while  the 
fourth  did  not  knock  up  any  dust,  but  seemed  to  jar 
the  stone,  and  was  followed  by  a  curious  screaming 
sound,  loud  at  first,  and  quickly  dying  away.  "  That 
was  the  ball  singing,"  said  he,  in  answer  to  Jack's 
question.  "  The  lead  hit  the  rock  and  glanced  off 
and  went  sailing  away  over  the  prairie.  You  must 
just  see  the  tip  of  the  foresight  on  the  mark.  Draw 
it  fine.  If  you  pull  the  trigger  when  it's  there,  you 
will  hit  every  time. 

An  hour  more  was  spent  in  shooting  at  this  mark, 
and  before  it  was  over,  Jack  had  come  to  under- 
stand a  great  deal  about  his  gun,  and  had  received 
much  praise  from  his  teacher.  "  You're  doing  well, 
my  son,  and  it  won't  take  you  long  to  learn  how  to 
shoot.  If  you  pick  up  riding,  roping  and  packing 
as  easily  as  you  do  shooting,  your  uncle  will  be  hir- 
ing you  to  work  for  wages  before  snow  flies.  Now 
let's  go  up  to  the  house  and  wipe  out  the  gun." 

After  Hugh  had  shown  Jack  how  to  clean  his 
rifle,  and  had  explained  to  him  the  importance  of 
keeping  it  clean,  free  from  rust  and  sand,  and  always 
ready  for  use  under  all  circumstances,  he  said,  "  Of 
course,  in  these  days  we  don't  have  to  look  out  for 
enemies  like  we  used  to  in  old  times.  Nowadays 
the  wars  are  pretty  much  over  in  these  parts,  yet  of 
course  there's  plenty  of  places  where  the  Indians  are 
bad  yet,  and  nobody  knows  when  they'll  make 


60      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

trouble  anywhere.  Why,  nobody  will  ever  know- 
how  many  people  got  killed  there  when  they  were 
building  the  railroad  back  on  the  plains.  I  scouted 
from  Julesburg  west  to  Cheyenne  at  that  time,  and 
it  was  an  everyday  matter  to  find  two  or  three 
graders  stuck  full  of  arrows  along  the  track.  That 
was  the  time  when  the  Pawnee  scouts  were  guard- 
ing the  road,  and  it  was  fun  to  see  them  fellows  get 
out  when  there  was  an  alarm  and  chase  the  hostiles. 
Them  Pawnees  just  loved  a  fight,  and  they  had 
never  been  whipped  when  Major  North  was  leading 
them,  so  they  did  not  know  what  fear  was.  They'd 
turn  out  at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night  and  chase 
the  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  as  long  as  their  horses 
could  run.  It  was  a  picnic  for  them. 

"  I  had  some  good  friends  in  that  camp.  One 
fellow,  especially,  that  they  called  Itching  Buffalo, 
was  brave,  and  he  had  powerful  medicine.  They 
said  he  had  been  down  into  one  of  them  houses 
where  the  medicine  animals  have  their  councils. 
The  others  used  to  say  that  he  couldn't  be  killed, 
and  it's  sure  that  he  was  always  in  the  front  of  the 
fighting  and  never  got  hit.  There's  surely  some- 
thing queer  about  Indian  medicine.  Take  old 
Whirlwind,  the  Cheyenne,  in  that  fight  he  had  with 
the  Sacs.  Every  feather  was  cut  from  his  war  bon- 
net, but  not  a  bullet  hit  him,  nor  his  medicine  that 
he  carried  on  it. 

"  But  I'm  forgetting  that  you  don't  know  any- 
thing about  these  things.  It's  likely  you  will  though, 
if  you  and  I  are  much  together.  What  I  started  to 


AN  ANCIENT  MASSACRE  61 

say  was  this.  In  old  times  a  man's  life  often  de- 
pended on  his  having  his  gun  ready  for  use.  If  he 
went  out  for  his  horse,  picketed  close  to  camp,  or 
went  for  wood,  or  down  to  the  creek  for  water,  he 
carried  his  gun  with  him,  and  it  was  always  in  good 
order  and  ready  for  use.  It  isn't  that  way  here  or 
now,  but  it  may  be  so  yet.  So  you'd  better  learn 
to  keep  your  gun  clean,  and  to  have  it  with  you 
always.  It  ain't  much  trouble  to  learn  this,  and  it 
may  save  your  life  sometime. 

"  Well,  there  comes  the  men  with  a  bunch  of 
horses.  Let's  go  down  to  the  corral  and  look  'em 
over." 


CHAPTER  VII 

HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS 

JACK'S  first  long  ride  had  made  him  pretty  sore ; 
all  his  muscles  pained  him.  Hugh  said  he  must 
keep  riding  and  soon  he  would  be  all  right. 

For  several  days  after  this,  Hugh  and  Jack  rode 
together,  and  each  day  they  went  a  little  further 
and  in  a  new  direction.  Each  day  Jack  found  riding 
easier,  and  before  long  he  felt  perfectly  at  home  on 
Old  Grey.  Each  day  after  they  got  home  from  the 
ride,  they  took  the  rifle  down  on  the  flat  in  front  of 
the  house  and  fired  a  number  of  shots  at  the  white 
rock,  and  several  times  Jack  hit  it,  and  all  his  shots 
were  good  ones,  and  the  bullets  struck  close  to  the 
mark.  Hugh  was  pleased  with  the  boy's  steadiness 
and  told  him  that  before  long  they  would  go  out 
and  take  a  hunt. 

Besides  the  rifle-shooting  Jack  was  learning  some- 
thing  about  horses  and  how  to  use  them.  Now, 
when  he  went  into  the  corral  with  Hugh,  he  no 
longer  felt  afraid  that  the  horses  would  run  over 
him.  The  day  after  their  first  ride,  Hugh  and  Jack 
led  Old  Grey  up  to  a  big  section  of  a  cottonwood 

log  that  Mrs.  Carter  used  in  mounting  her  horse, 
62 


HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS          63 

and,  standing  on  this,  Jack  saddled  and  bridled  the 
grey.  Hugh  showed  him  how  to  do  it,  and  then 
stood  by  and  watched,  and  when  Jack  did  anything 
wrong,  he  corrected  him,  and  helped  him  change  it. 
After  two  or  three  days  Jack  understood  how  to 
saddle  up  so  well  that  Hugh  no  longer  watched 
him. 

One  day  Jack  had  his  first  lesson  in  roping — 
what  he  had  always  read  of  as  lassoing.  Hugh 
called  the  rope  a  lassrope,  or  a  reata — this  being  a 
Spanish  word  meaning  rope.  The  two  took  a  rope 
and  went  into  the  big  corral,  and  for  a  time  practised 
throwing  at  the  snubbing  post,  which  stood  in  its 
centre.  Hugh  showed  Jack  just  how  it  was  done, 
and  after  he  had  thrown  the  rope  two  or  three  times 
he  handed  it  to  Jack,  and  told  him  to  coil  it  and  to 
throw  it.  In  two  or  three  days  Jack  found  that  he 
could  catch  the  post  about  half  the  time,  and  that 
throwing  the  rope,  which  at  first  had  seemed  to  him 
such  hard  work,  was  very  easy.  Several  times  he 
caught  Old  Grey  in  the  corral.  After  he  had  come 
to  understand  as  much  as  this,  Hugh  had  him  prac- 
tise on  horseback,  showing  him  how  to  throw  from 
the  saddle,  and  how  to  fasten  his  rope  by  two  or 
three  turns  about  the  horn,  so  as  to  hold  anything 
that  he  might  catch  with  the  noose.  He  warned 
him  how  to  handle  his  rope  in  taking  the  turns 
around  the  horn,  with  the  thumb  and  finger  held  up, 
not  down,  so  that  he  should  not  get  them  caught 
under  the  rope,  for  many  men  have  lost  their  fingers 
in  this  way,  having  them  cut  off  between  the  rope 


64      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  the  horn  when  the  pull  came  in  throwing  a 
steer.  So  it  was  that  as  they  rode  along,  Jack  would 
throw  the  rope  at  one  sage-bush  after  another,  pull- 
ing up  those  which  he  caught  and  then  gathering 
the  rope  for  a  fresh  throw.  This  was  pretty  good 
fun,  and  when  he  grew  tired  of  it,  he  would  coil  up 
his  rope  and  hang  it  on  his  saddle  by  the  loop  that 
was  fastened  there  to  hold  it,  and  then  he  and  Hugh 
would  talk  about  the  things  they  saw,  and  those 
that  Hugh  had  seen  and  heard  in  his  long  life  on 
the  prairie. 

The  whole  of  each  day  was  passed  in  the  open  air ; 
and  this  life,  so  different  from  that  led  by  the  boy 
in  his  city  home,  soon  began  to  affect  his  health 
and  his  spirits.  His  appetite  increased  enormously, 
his  flesh  began  to  harden,  and  his  face,  under  ex- 
posure to  the  keen  cool  wind  and  the  unshadowed 
rays  of  the  sun,  to  take  on  a  hue  of  brown  that 
it  had  never  shown  before.  Each  night  he  was 
heartily  and  healthily  tired,  and  an  hour  or  two 
after  supper  he  went  to  bed,  where  he  slept  like  a 
log  until  called  next  morning.  Each  day  began 
with  the  sun  and  was  enjoyed  through  every  hour. 
As  he  became  accustomed  to  his  horse,  Hugh  taught 
him  to  mount  from  the  right  side,  as  the  Indians 
do,  and  urged  him  to  learn  to  ride  bareback,  telling 
him  of  the  skill  shown  by  the  Indians  in  their  war 
and  hunting  trips,  when  they  use  no  saddle,  but 
cling  to  the  naked  horse. 

After  he  had  been  a  week  at  the  ranch,  his  uncle 
told  Jack  that  he  was  going  to  send  in  to  the  rail- 


HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS          6$ 

road,  and  advised  him  to  write  to  his  mother,  and 
to  tell  her  that  it  might  be  a  month  or  more  before 
she  would  again  hear  from  him,  and  the  boy  did  so, 
sending  a  long  and  enthusiastic  account  of  the  place 
and  the  people.  Mr.  Sturgis  also  wrote  to  his  sister 
and  brother-in-law,  telling  what  Jack's  life  had  been 
up  to  that  time,  of  the  marked  interest  felt  by  the 
boy  in  all  that  he  saw  and  did,  and  of  his  changed 
appearance  and  improved  health.  These  letters 
made  two  people  in  the  distant  city  very  happy. 

One  afternoon,  after  they  had  been  practising 
with  the  rifle,  and  had  cleaned  and  put  it  away, 
Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "  Now,  son,  to-morrow,  unless 
your  uncle  wants  me  to  do  something  else,  we'll 
ride  over  toward  Sand  Creek  and  see  if  we  can't 
kill  something.  Mrs.  Carter  says  we're  about  out 
of  meat,  and  she  wants  me  to  kill  an  antelope.  Let 
me  see  that  butcher  knife  of  yours  that  I  took  off 
your  belt  the  other  day.  If  it's  a  new  one  it'll  need 
grinding,  of  course." 

Jack  ran  and  brought  the  knife,  and  Hugh  looked 
at  it  and  tried  its  edge  on  his  thumb.  "  Yes,"  said 
he,  "  it's  just  out  of  the  shop  and  we'll  have  to  put 
an  edge  on  it.  No  telling  till  I  get  it  on  the  stone 
what  sort  of  a  piece  of  steel  it  is.  Come  on  and 
turn  for  me  and  I'll  find  out." 

They  went  down  to  the  blacksmith's  shop,  and 
while  Jack  turned  the  handle  of  the  grindstone, 
Hugh  ground  the  knife  and  afterwards  whetted  it 
on  the  oil-stone  until  its  edge  was  keen.  '*  Tears 
to  me,"  he  said,  "  that  this  is  a  pretty  good  knife. 
5 


66      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

I  expect  your  uncle  bought  it  for  you  !  Most 
young  fellows  that  come  out  here  carry  a  dirk  knife 
with  a  big  bone  handle  and  a  guard,  that  ain't  no 
earthly  use  except  in  a  fight,  and  they  don't  expect 
to  fight ;  they  expect  to  use  the  knife  to  butcher 
with.  What  you  want  is  just  a  common  skinning 
knife,  such  as  a  butcher  uses — what  you've  got  here. 
Now  put  it  back  in  your  sheath,  and  if  we  have  any 
luck  to-morrow,  you'll  have  a  chance  to  try  it." 

When  they  had  left  the  shop  and  walked  up  to 
the  house,  and  Hugh  had  seated  himself  on  the 
ground  in  the  sun,  and  Jack  had  thrown  himself 
down  beside  him,  the  boy  said  :  "  Hugh,  you  spoke 
the  other  day  about  the  Pawnees,  and  said  you  had 
seen  them  and  had  some  friends  among  them.  I 
wish  you'd  tell  me  about  them.  I've  read  about 
them  in  Cooper's  novels.  Don't  you  remember  that 
Leather  Stocking  when  he  got  very  old  lived  among 
the  Pawnees,  and  had  the  young  chief  Hard  Heart, 
for  his  son.  He  must  have  been  a  splendid  man. 
I  remember  the  description  of  the  fight,  when  he 
killed  the  Dakota  chief.  It  was  fine." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  never  knew  any  of  them 
people  ;  likely  they  were  before  my  time,  but  the 
story  you  read  was  likely  true,  for  them  Pawnees 
has  surely  killed  plenty  Sioux.  I  expect  there's 
nothing  a  Pawnee  likes  better  than  to  get  at  the 
Sioux.  I  have  seen  quite  a  few  Pawnees  in  my 
time,  and  I've  stopped  some  in  their  villages,  and 
they're  good  people,  no  mistake  about  that.  They 
are  kind,  and  they  give  you  the  best  they've  got ; 


HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS          67 

and  they're  brave.  I  don't  want  to  be  with  better 
people.  Some  of  'em  helped  me  out  of  a  bad  fix 
once,  and  I  ain't  never  forgot  it.  That's  the 
time  I  saw  the  prettiest  horse  I  ever  looked  at.  It 
was  while  I  was  scouting  up  at  the  end  of  the  track 
that  I  saw  him.  He  belonged  to  an  Indian, — Sioux 
or  Cheyenne,  I  expect — anyhow  they  were  hostiles, 
and  they  chased  me,  and  if  I  had  had  far  to  go,  I 
expect  they'd  have  caught  me.  They  might  have 
done  so  anyhow  if  it  hadn't  been  for  them  Pawnees. 
"  I  had  gone  out  from  the  graders'  camp  to  see  if 
I  couldn't  get  an  antelope,  for  the  camp  was  clean 
out  of  fresh  meat.  I  rode  up  out  of  the  valley,  and 
along  on  the  high  prairie,  back  from  the  creek,  but 
not  too  far  back,  for  I  expected  likely  I'd  get 
jumped,  and  I  wanted  to  have  a  good  show  to  make 
a  run  for  it.  There  hadn't  been  no  Indians  seen 
for  quite  a  while,  and  the  boys  working  on  the 
track  were  getting  pretty  bold.  One  of  them  even 
wanted  to  go  hunting  with  me.  He  didn't  have  no 
horse  to  ride,  said  he  would  go  afoot,  that  he  could 
keep  up,  if  I  didn't  ride  too  fast.  I  told  him  he 
had  better  stop  in  camp  if  he  wanted  to  keep  his 
hair  safe,  and,  anyhow,  he  couldn't  go  with  me.  I 
knew  that  because  Indians  hadn't  been  seen,  that 
didn't  signify  there  weren't  none  in  the  country. 
The  more  you  don't  see  them  fellows — when  you're 
in  a  hostile  country — the  harder  you've  got  to  look 
out  for  'em.  And  there  was  a  company,  or  part  of 
a  company,  of  Major  North's  Pawnees  camped  about 
ten  or  fifteen  miles  further  up  the  creek,  and  I 


68      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

expected  that  the  Sioux,  if  there  was  any  about, 
would  cut  in  behind  the  Pawnees,  and  likely  tackle 
the  graders'  camp,  if  they  saw  any  show  to  get  away 
with  it.  Well,  I  hadn't  gone  more'n  a  couple  of 
miles  or  so  before  I  came  over  a  little  rise,  and  saw 
a  buck  antelope  feeding,  in  easy  shot.  I  killed  him 
and  tied  him  to  the  saddle,  and  started  back  to 
camp ;  but  I  hadn't  gone  far  when  I  saw  three 
Indians  come  in  sight,  right  between  me  and  the 
camp.  They  saw  me  as  soon  as  I  did  them,  and  as 
soon  as  they  saw  me,  they  charged.  They  were 
quite  a  ways  off,  maybe  a  mile  or  more ;  but  that 
did  not  give  me  much  time  to  fool  away.  I  cut 
loose  the  meat  from  my  saddle,  and  started  for  the 
bluffs,  thinking  I'd  get  down  into  the  creek  valley, 
and  either  head  them  and  get  to  camp,  or  else  ride 
for  the  Pawnee  camp.  When  I  got  to  the  bluffs, 
looking  all  the  time  for  a  place  to  get  down,  by 
George  !  I  couldn't  see  one  ;  it  was  so  steep,  even 
in  the  best  place,  that  you  couldn't  get  no  horse 
down,  without  he  had  wings.  Of  course  a  man 
could  have  clumb  down  afoot,  but  not  a  horse. 
Well,  the  Indians  were  a-coming  all  the  time,  and  one 
of  'em  was  nigh  a  half  mile  ahead  of  the  other  two ; 
those  two  had  not  gained  much,  but  the  fellow  in 
the  lead,  he  was  surely  a-coming.  While  I  was 
looking  for  a  place  to  get  down  I'd  noticed  a  little 
point  running  out  into  the  valley,  with  three  pines 
on  it,  and  I  made  for  them,  for  I  says  to  myself,  *  I 
ain't  a-going  to  let  them  fellows  have  this  horse,  and 
then  get  killed  afoot.' 


HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS          69 

"  I  got  to  the  trees  and  stopped  and  got  off.  The 
lead  Indian  kept  a-coming;  and,  sir,  he  surely  had  a 
good  horse.  It  was  a  big  iron-grey,  powerful  and 
swift,  I  could  tell  by  the  way  he  overhauled  my 
horse,  for  mine  wan't  no  slouch,  and  I  hadn't  let 
him  linger  much  by  the  way.  Why,  when  that 
grey's  foot  struck  the  ground  it  seemed  like  he  was 
galloping  on  cushions,  it  was  so  easy.  The  Indian 
came  up  to  within  about  four  hundred  yards  of  the 
trees,  and  then  he  wheeled  his  horse  and  rode  off  in 
a  wide  circle  and  met  his  party,  and  they  stopped 
and  talked  a  while,  and  then  they  started  and 
charged  straight  at  me.  They  did  not  worry  me 
much,  for  I  knew  they  wouldn't  come  right  close, 
and  they  couldn't  get  around  me.  If  they'd  been 
able  to  circle  in  behind  me,  I  expect  they'd  have 
bothered  me  considerable.  As  it  was,  I  kept  watch- 
ing that  grey  horse,  and  thinking  about  him,  and 
figuring  to  see  if  there  wasn't  some  way  I  could  get 
hold  of  him  ;  but  I  did  not  see  any.  The  Indians 
kept  a-charging  up  and  a-charging  up,  every  time 
coming  a  little  closer.  One  of  them  had  a  gun,  and 
every  time  they  turned  off,  he  would  shoot  toward 
me ;  but  they  were  too  far  off  to  hit  anything. 
You  see,  in  them  days,  britch-loaders  weren't  very 
common  anywhere,  and  the  Indians,  of  course,  knew 
less  about  'em  than  white  people.  They  calculated 
on  my  having  a  muzzle-loader,  and  were  trying  to 
tempt  me  to  shoot,  so  as  to  make  a  charge  when  my 
gun  was  empty,  and  finish  me  before  I  could  load. 
I  had  a  little  britch-loading  Sharp's  rifle,  with  paper 


70      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

cartridges,  but  I  could  load  pretty  fast  if  I  had  to  • 
could  beat  a  muzzle-loader  all  to  death. 

"  At  last  the  Indians  came  up  so  close  that  1 
made  up  my  mind  I  would  give  them  a  shot,  and  I 
thought  I  would  try  the  man  riding  the  grey,  just 
on  the  chance  that  if  I  killed  him,  the  grey  might 
keep  on  towards  my  horse  and  I  would  get  a  chance 
to  catch  him.  I  stood  up  against  the  tree  and  took 
a  careful  aim  at  the  man,  shooting  plenty  high,  for 
they  were  a  long  shot  off.  Just  as  I  pulled  though, 
the  man  I  was  shooting  at  swung  his  horse,  and  my 
ball  went  by  him  and  killed  the  horse  of  the  man 
behind  him.  It  fell,  and  the  rider  jumped  up  and 
ran  off,  jumping  from  side  to  side,  like  he  was 
plenty  scared  I  would  shoot  at  him.  They  all 
stopped  away  out  of  range  and  began  to  talk  again, 
when,  all  of  a  sudden,  I  saw  six  more  men  ride  up 
in  sight,  quite  a  long  way  off.  Thinks  I  to  myself, 
'If  these  is  more  Sioux,  I  am  surely  in  for  it  now ; ' 
but  in  a  moment  I  noticed  that  these  six  men  were 
coming  in  pairs,  the  way  soldiers  ride,  and  then  I 
loiew  it  was  a  bunch  of  Pawnees.  I  ran  to  untie  my 
horse  and  charge  out,  but  the  Sioux  had  seen  the 
Pawnees  as  soon  as  I  did,  and  they  had  just  ever- 
lastingly lit  out  over  the  prairie.  The  Pawnees 
struck  out  after  the  Sioux,  and  by  the  time  I  was  in 
the  saddle  and  riding,  they  were  a  couple  of  miles 
ahead  of  me,  and  going  hard.  I  knew  it  was  no  use 
for  me  to  run  my  horse  down  trying  to  catch  them, 
so  I  rode  out  to  where  I  had  dropped  my  meat, 
picked  it  up,  and  went  back  to  the  graders'  camp. 


HUGH  CHASED  BY  INDIANS          71 

"  The  next  day  I  went  up  to  the  Pawnee  camp, 
for  I  kept  thinking  about  that  grey  horse,  and  if  the 
Pawnees  had  captured  him,  I  wanted  to  buy  him. 
I  knew  that  they  would  understand  just  as  well 
as  I  did  how  good  a  horse  he  was,  and  I  thought 
likely  that  if  they  had  got  him,  they  would  not  sell 
him  ;  but  I  was  going  to  make  a  bluff  at  buying 
him,  anyhow.  When  I  got  to  the  camp  I  talked 
a  while  with  Major  North's  brother,  who  was  in 
command  there,  and  at  last  told  him  about  the 
chase  that  they  had  had  yesterday,  and  how  the 
Sioux  had  had  me  cornered.  I  said  I  wanted  to  see 
one  of  the  Indians  that  was  in  the  fight.  When 
the  head  man  of  these  six  came  to  the  tent,  I  saw 
that  it  was  old  Ikuts  tarush,  and  I  talked  with  him 
about  the  chase,  and  asked  him  what  they  had  done. 
He  said  that  they  had  killed  two  of  the  Sioux. 
Then  I  asked  him  about  the  grey  horse,  and 
whether  they  had  got  it.  He  shook  his  head, 
*  No/  he  said, '  that  horse  got  killed.  The  horse  and 
the  two  men  who  were  riding  him  were  both  killed, 
and  the  other  man  and  his  horse  got  away.'  I  don't 
know  when  I've  been  more  sorry  about  the  death  of 
any  dumb  beast,  that  wasn't  a  dog,  than  I  was  that 
time.  Ikuts  tarush  was  sorry  too." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE 

AFTER  breakfast  next  morning,  Hugh  and  Jack 
saddled  their  horses  and  set  out  for  Sand  Creek. 
Before  they  started,  Hugh  brought  out  from  the 
house  a  gun  sling  which  he  fastened  to  Jack's  saddle 
on  the  left  side.  It  was  like  a  long  narrow  leather 
bag  open  at  both  ends,  and  held  by  two  long  straps, 
one  of  which  passed  over  the  horn  of  the  saddle, 
while  the  other  was  tied  behind  the  cantle,  so  that 
the  bag  lay  along  the  horse's  side  under  the  left 
hand  stirrup  leather,  and  just  below  where  the 
rider's  knee  would  come.  Then  he  slipped  the  rifle 
in,  so  that  the  stock  lay  along  the  horse's  shoulder 
and  within  easy  reach  of  the  hand.  This,  he  told 
Jack,  was  the  best  way  to  carry  his  rifle,  and 
although  at  first  the  gun  seemed  in  Jack's  way,  and 
a  little  uncomfortable,  he  soon  got  used  to  feeling  it 
there. 

The  day  was  bright  and  pleasant,  and  skirting  the 
base  of  the  mountain  for  two  or  three  miles,  they 
rode  over  the  ridge  which  separates  the  waters  of 
Sand  Creek  from  the  Muddy.  The  prairie  was 
everywhere  the  same  dull  brown ;  a  few  cattle  and 
7* 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  73 

horses  were  seen  feeding  on  the  distant  hillsides. 
Far  away  toward  the  Sand  Creek,  Hugh  pointed 
out  a  number  of  white  dots  on  the  prairie,  which  he 
told  Jack  were  antelope.  He  said  to  him  : 

"  Now,  son,  when  we  get  near  those  antelope, 
who  is  going  to  do  the  hunting,  you  or  me  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  don't  know,  Hugh.  I've  been  wonder- 
ing about  that.  You  know  what  it  is  best  to  do, 
and  if  you  will  tell  me,  I'll  try  to  do  just  as  you 
say." 

"  That's  good,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  want  you  to 
kill  the  meat,  if  we  get  any,  but  it's  a  heap  better  for 
you  to  start  in  right  to  learn  how  to  hunt  than  it  is 
for  you  to  kill  anything.  I  guess  the  best  way  is 
for  me  to  do  the  hunting  for  a  little  while,  so  that 
you  can  watch  me  and  learn.  Now,  I'll  tell  you  two 
or  three  things  about  hunting  that  it's  worth  while 
for  you  to  remember.  When  you're  hunting, 
always  go  alone  if  you  can,  or  else  with  one  other 
man,  if  you  and  he  understand  each  other.  You'll 
never  have  any  luck  if  you  hunt  with  a  man  who  is 
always  crazy  to  be  ahead.  If  he  acts  that  way,  you 
just  quit  him  and  don't  go  with  him  again.  Such  a 
man  will  everlastingly  scare  away  the  game,  and 
he'll  wear  out  your  patience,  and  make  you  wish  he 
was  somewhere  else  a  good  many  times  before  you 
get  to  camp.  If  you're  alone  you'll  have  yourself 
to  blame  for  any  blunders  you  make,  and  it's  easy 
for  you  to  forgive  yourself  for  the  fool  things  you  do, 
but  it  ain't  easy  to  forgive  any  one  else.  If  you're 
hunting  with  a  man  who  understands  how  to  hunt 


74      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

better'n  you  do,  let  him  do  the  hunting,  and,  if  he 
wants  it  bad,  let  him  do  the  shooting  too.  But  I 
wouldn't  hunt  with  a  man  that  makes  a  hog  of  him- 
self,  if  I  was  you. 

"  If  you're  hunting  with  another  man,  always 
have  it  understood  who  is  to  hunt  and  who  is  to 
shoot.  Don't  ever  hunt  side  by  side  with  any  one. 
Two  men  are  twice  as  easy  seen  as  one,  and  make 
twice  as  much  noise  ;  so  they  are  more  likely  to  be 
noticed  by  the  game.  You  can  bet  that  the  game 
is  always  on  the  watch,  and,  do  the  best  you  can, 
it  is  pretty  likely  to  see  you.  So  you  want  to  go 
slow,  and  to  be  just  as  careful  as  you  know  how. 
When  you  get  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  go  mighty 
slow.  Only  take  a  step  or  two  at  a  time,  and  look 
over  every  inch  of  the  ground  that  you  can  see 
beyond  you,  as  your  head  rises.  Always  take  your 
hat  off.  A  hat  sticks  up  two  or  three  inches  higher 
than  your  eyes,  and  can  be  seen  before  you  can  see 
whatever  it  is  that's  looking  at  you.  In  the  same 
way  you'll  see  the  horns  of  an  elk  or  an  antelope 
that's  over  the  ridge  from  you  before  you  see  his  head. 

"When  you  see  any  game,  don't  dodge  down 
quick,  so's  to  get  out  of  sight.  Even  if  the  animal 
seems  to  be  looking  right  at  you,  don't  move,  or,  if 
you  do,  lower  your  head  very  slowly.  The  chances 
are  that  the  animal  hasn't  seen  you,  or  if  it  has, 
that  it  don't  know  what  you  are,  and  if  you  keep 
still,  it  won't  notice  you.  Likely  after  staring  at 
you  for  a  minute  or  two,  it'll  look  some  other  way, 
or  put  down  its  head  to  take  a  bite  of  grass.  Then 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  7$ 

you  must  drop  down  out  of  sight  and  begin  to  crawl 
to  the  top  of  the  hill.  You  must  remember  that 
when  you  see  this  head,  there's  the  whole  crest  of 
the  hill  between  your  shoulder,  from  which  you 
must  shoot,  and  the  antelope's  heart  that  you  must 
shoot  at.  You've  got  to  see  the  antelope's  whole 
body  before  you  can  shoot,  and  you've  got  to  get  up 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  before  you  can  see  his  whole 
body.  While  you  are  getting  to  the  top  of  the 
hill,  you  must  watch  out  and  not  show  yourself, 
either  to  the  animal  you  have  seen,  or  to  any  others 
that  there  are  with  it.  Likely  as  not  there  will  be 
six  or  eight  others  in  the  bunch,  scattered  about  on 
the  hillside,  and  all  of  'em  keeping  a  good  look-out. 
To  get  a  standing  shot,  you  must  keep  out  of  sight 
of  all  of  'em.  For  a  part  of  the  way  to  the  top  of 
the  hill  you  can  go  stooping  down  low,  then  you'll 
have  to  get  down  on  your  hands  and  knees  and 
creep,  and  at  last  you'll  have  to  drop  flat  on  your 
belly  and  crawl.  If  the  grass  is  any  way  thick  and 
high,  you  won't  have  much  trouble,  but  if  it's  short 
and  thin,  maybe  the  antelope  will  see  you  and  run  off. 
"  Remember  to  keep  your  head  down,  and  don't 
feel  that  you've  got  to  look  every  two  or  three 
minutes  to  see  whether  the  game  is  there  or  not, 
It  won't  run  without  it  gets  scared,  and  if  it  starts 
to  run,  your  looking  won't  stop  it.  When,  by 
crawling  as  carefully  as  you  know  how,  you've  got 
up  so  you  can  see  your  animal  again,  wait  until  it 
puts  its  head  down  to  feed,  or  looks  away  from 
you,  and  then  raise  your  head  a  little  bit  to  see  if 


76      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

there  are  any  others  with  it,  so  as  to  get  an  idea  of 
the  general  situation.  When  you  raise  your  head, 
if  you  can  see  the  whole  body  of  your  antelope, 
you  had  better  shoot.  If  the  animal  is  broadside 
toward  you,  shoot  at  his  heart ;  if  head  toward  you, 
at  the  point  of  his  breast ;  if  tail  toward  you,  shoot 
between  the  hams,  about  three  inches  below  the  tail ; 
if  quartering  to  you,  at  the  point  of  the  shoulder,  or, 
if  quartering  from  you,  at  the  flank,  just  in  front 
of  the  ham.  You  want  your  bullet  to  go  through 
the  heart,  and  you  must  remember  that  the  heart 
lies  just  back  of  the  fore  legs,  and  low  down.  The 
life  lies  low.  Don't  forget  that.  There  is  a  little 
curl  of  hair  on  an  antelope  just  back  of  the  elbow, 
and  here  the  hair  is  thin,  and  the  dark  skin  shows 
through  and  makes  this  curl  look  black.  That  is 
the  mark  I  always  shoot  at,  if  I  can.  An  antelope 
hit  there  don't  go  far. 

"  Now,  it  ain't  much  use  for  me  to  tell  you  all 
these  things,  because  you've  got  to  see  'em  done 
and  to  do  'em  yourself  before  you  can  know  much 
about  hunting,  but  maybe  what  I've  told  you  will 
make  it  easier  for  you  to  learn. 

"  There's  one  thing  I  ain't  told  you  about,  be- 
cause  I  suppose  you  know  all  about  it  without  being 
told.  That's  the  wind.  All  animals  are  terrible 
keen  smellers,  and  of  course  you  can't  never  get  up 
to  them  from  the  windward  side.  You've  always 
got  to  go  to  leeward.  Let  the  wind  blow  from 
them  to  you,  not  from  you  to  them." 

"  I  think  I  understand  all  that  you've  told  me," 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE      77 

said  Jack,  "  and  I'll  try  to  remember  it.  Do  you 
think  we'll  get  any  game  to-day  ?  " 

"  Oh,  we'll  sure  see  some  antelope,"  answered 
Hugh,  "  but  maybe  we  won't  find  what  we  want  in 
a  good  place.  You  see,  the  does  are  going  to  have 
young  ones  pretty  soon  now,  and  so  I  don't  like  to 
kill  'em.  The  bucks  are  in  better  order,  and  if  we 
can  find  one  of  them  in  a  place  where  we  can  get  at 
him,  we'll  try  to  kill  him." 

As  they  rode  on  farther  and  farther,  the  country 
became  more  broken,  and  they  passed  over  one 
little  ridge  after  another,  with  little  valleys  between. 
They  had  almost  reached  the  top  of  one  of  these 
ridges,  when  Hugh  suddenly  stopped  and  looked 
intently  toward  the  right,  where  the  valley  widened 
out  a  little.  Jack  stopped  and  looked  too,  but  he 
could  see  nothing  except  the  brown  prairie. 

"See  'em?"  said  Hugh,  after  a  moment. 

"No,  I  don't  see  anything,"  replied  Jack. 

"  Look  down  on  the  hillside,  just  above  that  lit- 
tle alkali  lake,"  said  Hugh.  "  There's  two  antelope 
there — old  does,  I  reckon.  We  won't  bother  with 
them.  Likely  they'll  get  our  wind  after  we've  gone 
a  little  further,  and  run  up  by  us." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  see  them  now,"  said  Jack.  They 
crossed  the  next  valley  and  rode  up  over  the  ridge 
beyond,  and  as  they  went  down  that  hill,  Hugh 
called  out,  "  Here  they  come,  sure  enough ; "  and 
looking  to  his  right,  Jack  saw  two  antelope  run- 
ning towards  them  very  fast.  They  ran  smoothly 
and  evenly,  and  as  easily  and  fast  up  hill  as  down,  or 


78      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

on  the  level.  In  a  moment  they  were  passing  quite 
close  in  front  of  the  riders,  and  had  run  up  the  hill 
and  disappeared  over  its  crest. 

"  We've  got  to  watch  out  now,"  said  Hugh, 
"We're  liable  to  run  on  an  antelope  any  minute. 
Don't  ride  up  over  these  hills  in  a  hurry,  and  keep 
a  good  look-out." 

The  next  hill  they  came  to,  Hugh  checked  his 
horse  before  he  got  to  the  top,  and  looked  carefully 
over  the  ground  ahead.  After  doing  this,  he  lifted 
his  bridle  rein  and  let  his  horse  take  a  few  steps  for- 
ward, and  then  stopped  again  and  looked.  Then  he 
went  forward  again — quite  to  the  top  of  the  hill, 
and  looked  again.  Nothing  was  seen,  and  they 
went  on  down  into  the  valley  and  across  it.  Jack 
noticed  that  as  he  went  up  the  hill  old  Baldy  seemed 
to  be  looking  just  as  his  rider  was.  His  ears  were 
pricked  up;  he  moved  slowly  and  carefully  and 
seemed  to  be  expecting  something  all  the  time. 
Each  time  they  came  to  the  crest  of  a  hill  the  same 
thing  was  repeated,  but  nothing  was  seen.  At 
length,  however,  after  one  of  the  looks,  Hugh  bent 
low  over  his  horse's  neck,  and  at  the  same  time 
turned  him  round  and  rode  down  the  hill  again. 
Jack,  who  had  kept  close  to  Hugh's  side,  had  seen 
nothing,  for  his  head  was  a  foot  or  two  below  the 
old  man's. 

After  they  had  got  part  way  down  the  hill,  Hugh 
spoke  in  a  low  tone  and  said,  "  There's  a  couple  of 
antelope  on  the  side  hill  just  above  here.  They're 
lying  down,  and  I  guess  we  can  get  up  within  shot 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  79 

Throw  down  your  rope  and  take  your  gun  and  come 
on." 

In  a  moment  Jack  was  off  his  horse,  and  had 
thrown  down  his  bridle  rein  and  his  rope.  Then  he 
pulled  his  rifle  out  of  its  case  and  went  to  Hugh, 
who  had  taken  his  rifle  from  its  case  and  stood  wait- 
ing for  him.  Jack  was  beginning  to  feel  excited, 
and  his  heart  was  pounding  against  his  ribs,  and  as 
he  ran  up  to  Hugh,  he  was  not  looking  where  he 
was  going,  and  he  caught  his  foot  in  a  sage-bush, 
and  would  have  fallen  flat  if  Hugh  had  not  reached 
out  his  hand  and  caught  him  by  the  shoulder. 

"  Steady,  son  :  steady,"  said  Hugh.  "  Don't  be 
in  such  a  rush.  There's  plenty  of  time,  and  if  you're 
going  to  do  any  hunting  you  mustn't  go  ramming 
around  this  way.  Go  slow  and  easy.  Those  ante- 
lope ain't  going  to  run  away  unless  we've  scared 
'em  already,  and  if  we've  scared  'em,  they're  out  of 
shot  by  this  time." 

"  Let's  hurry,  Hugh,  and  maybe  we  can  get  a  shot 
at  them." 

"  Easy,  easy.  Don't  I  tell  you  that  you  can't 
make  anything  by  rushing  'round.  I  want  you  to 
learn  how  to  hunt,  not  to  act  like  a  rattlehead. 
Now  come  with  me  and  go  slow  and  quiet,  and  we'll 
take  a  look." 

The  two  walked  forward  toward  the  mountain 
for  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  Jack  eagerly  pressing 
forward,  while  Hugh  walked  slowly.  The  wind  was 
now  blowing  in  their  faces.  At  length  Hugh  pointed 
**ff  to  their  right  and  ahead,  and  said  to  Jack,  "  Now, 


8o      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

those  antelope  are  over  the  ridge  there,  lying  down 
on  the  hillside.  Do  you  want  me  to  go  up  and  find 
'em,  and  then  come  back  and  get  you,  so's  you  can 
shoot  at  'em,  or  would  you  rather  go  up  yourself 
and  find  'em,  and  take  the  shot  ?  You  can  do  just 
whichever  you  like." 

"  Oh,  may  I  go  up  alone  and  do  it  all  myself? 
That'll  be  splendid.  I'd  rather  do  that  than  have 
any  help,"  said  Jack,  "  Can  I  start  now  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh.  "  Go  ahead,  but  mind  and  be 
careful,  or  else  the  first  thing  you  know  you'll  see 
them  antelope  a  long  way  off.  I'll  set  here  and 
smoke  till  I  hear  the  shot."  As  he  said  this,  Hugh 
sat  down  on  the  ground,  and  putting  his  rifle  beside 
him,  felt  in  his  pocket  for  his  pipe,  while  Jack  went 
on  towards  the  hilltop.  He  walked  very  fast,  keep- 
ing  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  before  him, 
and  before  he  had  come  to  the  top  of  the  ridge  he 
was  breathing  pretty  fast.  As  he  got  nearer  to  the 
top,  he  began  to  be  still  more  excited.  He  remem- 
bered what  Hugh  had  said  about  shooting  at  a  par- 
ticular spot  on  the  antelope,  and  he  hoped  he  could 
hit  it.  If  he  did,  he  felt  sure  that  the  antelope 
would  drop.  It  would  be  great  to  take  the  animal 
in  and  be  able  to  say  that  he  had  killed  it,  and  not 
Hugh.  Suddenly,  as  he  was  thinking  of  these  things, 
he  heard  a  queer  noise  off  to  his  left,  and  then  he 
saw  that  he  was  on  top  of  the  hill  and  could  see  over 
quite  a  good  deal  of  the  valley  in  front  of  him. 
He  thought  that  the  antelope  must  be  somewhere 
near  here.  He  began  to  look,  very  carefully,  when 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  81 

suddenly  he  again  heard  this  curious  noise,  some- 
thing  like  a  person  blowing  his  nose,  and  looking 
hard  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  he  suddenly 
saw  two  buck  antelope  running  away  from  him  not 
very  far  off.  They  disappeared  over  a  hill,  and  in  a 
moment  were  seen  again  much  further  off,  running 
up  a  high  hill,  on  top  of  which  they  stopped  and 
stood  looking  at  him,  again  making  that  curious 
sound.  He  felt  sure  that  they  were  the  antelope 
he  had  been  looking  for,  and  he  was  so  disappointed 
that  he  felt  like  crying,  only  that  would  do  no  good. 
They  were  now  much  too  far  away  to  shoot  at.  He 
watched  them  for  a  little  while,  and  then  began  to 
walk  along  the  hilltop  to  make  sure  that  there  were 
no  more  antelope  there.  He  soon  convinced  him- 
self  of  this,  and  then  turned  to  go  back  to  Hugh. 
Before  he  had  gone  far,  he  saw  him  coming,  riding 
his  own  horse  and  leading  the  grey. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  saw  the  antelope  run  off, 
and  so  I  brought  the  horses.  What  scared  them  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  Hugh,"  was  the  answer,  "  but  I 
guess  I  did.  I  got  up  on  the  hill  and  was  looking 
around,  and  suddenly  I  heard  some  queer  noises  off 
there,  and  then  I  heard  them  again,  and  then  two 
antelope  ran  over  the  hill  and  up  on  the  mountain 
there,  and  stopped  and  looked." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  you  must  have  let 
'em  see  you.  You've  got  to  be  mighty  careful  when 
you're  crawling  up  on  game." 

Jack  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off  beside  Hugh. 

For  a  little  while  he  kept  still,  thinking,  and  strug- 
6 


82      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

gling  with  his  disappointment ;  then  he  spoke  and 
said: 

"  Hugh,  I  tried  to  be  smart  just  now,  and  so  I 
lost  those  antelope.  Because  you  have  taught  me 
how  to  do  a  few  things,  I  thought  I  could  creep  up 
to  those  animals  alone.  I  made  a  mistake  and  I 
know  it  now.  Don't  let  me  make  any  more  like  it, 
please." 

Hugh's  face  lighted  up  with  pleasure  as  he 
heard  these  words,  and  he  answered,  "  Son,  I'm 
mighty  glad  to  hear  you  say  this.  You  talk  like  a 
man,  and  you're  going  to  make  a  good  one,  I  know 
it.  I  figured  quite  a  spell  to-day  before  I  made  up 
my  mind  what  I'd  do  about  them  antelope,  but  I 
was  a  little  mite  afraid  you  was  getting  the  big-head, 
and  I  thought  I'd  try  you  the  way  I  did.  If  you'd 
asked  me  to  take  you  up  to  the  antelope,  you'd 
have  got  the  shot,  and  likely  now  we'd  have  been 
butchering,  but  I  expect  it  is  better  the  way  it  is. 
You've  learned  a  lesson  of  one  kind,  and  before  the 
day's  over  I'll  give  you  a  lesson  in  hunting.  Come 
on,  now,  let's  lope  while  we  can." 

They  went  on,  galloping  across  the  little  valleys 
and  going  slowly  up  the  hills.  Before  very  long 
Jack  again  saw  Hugh  bend  his  head  and  back  away 
from  the  ridge,  and  then  turn  and  ride  a  few  yards 
down  the  hill  and  dismount.  Jack  did  the  same, 
and  as  he  drew  his  rifle  from  its  scabbard,  Hugh 
said  to  him,  "  There's  a  big  buck  just  over  the  hill, 
and  I  think  we  can  get  him.  Is  your  gun  loaded  ?" 

«  No,"  replied  Jack. 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  83 

'•  That's  right,  but  you'd  better  load  it  now  and 
keep  it  at  half-cock,  and  then  follow  me  and  do  just 
what  you  see  me  do." 

Hugh  walked  quietly  up  the  hill  and  Jack  followed 
him.  Again  he  was  excited,  but  this  time  he  was 
not  breathing  fast,  and  now  he  felt  sure  that  he 
would  get  a  shot.  When  Hugh  had  nearly  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill,  he  stopped,  took  off  his  hat  and 
dropped  it  on  the  ground,  and  putting  his  hand  be- 
hind him  motioned  Jack  to  stop.  After  a  long  look 
he  took  two  or  three  steps  forward  and  then  stopped 
again  ;  then  two  or  three  more,  and  then  he  slowly 
lowered  his  head  and  walked  forward  in  a  stooping 
position.  Then  he  dropped  to  his  knees,  and  turn- 
ing, beckoned  Jack,  who  had  imitated  all  his  mo- 
tions, to  his  side.  "  The  buck  is  just  over  there," 
he  whispered,  pointing  to  the  crest  before  him. 
"  Creep  up  beside  me,  and  look  through  the  grass 
and  try  to  see  him.  Don't  raise  your  head  and 
don't  hurry.  There's  plenty  of  time." 

On  hands  and  knees  they  crept  forward  a  few  feet, 
and  then  Hugh  stretched  out  his  hand  and  touched 
Jack,  and  motioned  with  his  head.  The  boy  stared 
at  the  grass  before  them  which  was  shivering  in  the 
wind,  but  he  could  see  nothing  beyond  it  but  the 
blue  sky.  At  length  Hugh  bent  toward  him  and 
whispered,  "  Don't  you  see  his  horns?  "  Instantly 
Jack  saw  that  what  he  had  seen  several  times  and 
had  supposed  were  two  black  looking  weed  stalks 
were  the  slender  horns  of  an  antelope.  Hugh  saw 
the  change  in  his  companion's  face,  and  whispered 


84      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

again,  "  Crawl  up  a  few  feet  more  and  then  get  up 
slowly,  rest  your  left  elbow  on  your  knee,  and  aim 
just  behind  the  shoulder  and  low  down."  Jack  crept 
up  past  Hugh,  and,  rising  very  slowly  on  one  knee, 
took  a  careful  aim.  The  buck  was  lying  on  a  point 
of  the  hill,  with  his  face  toward  the  valley  and  his 
back  toward  Jack,  who  aimed  at  the  side  just  behind 
the  shoulder  and  low  down,  and  fired.  The  buck 
sprang  to  his  feet,  and  in  half  a  dozen  low,  rabbit- 
like  jumps,  disappeared  over  the  hill. 

Jack  had  not  had  time  to  wonder  whether  he  had 
missed  or  not,  when  he  heard  Hugh's  voice  at  his 
ear  saying,  "  Son,  you  done  that  well ;  no  one  could 
have  done  it  better.  Now,  let's  go  and  get  the 
horses." 

"  Well,  but  Hugh,  where  is  the  antelope?  Did  I 
hit  him  or  did  I  miss  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Why,  you  hit  him,  of  course.  Look  where  he 
ran.  Don't  you  see  that  if  you'd  missed  him  he 
would  have  been  in  sight  before  now,  either  cross- 
ing that  flat  or  running  up  on  one  of  the  hills.  He 
ain't  gone  far.  He's  our  meat." 

"  Oh,  I  hope  so,"  gasped  Jack,  who  suddenly  be- 
gan to  tremble  as  if  he  were  cold. 

When  they  had  mounted,  Hugh  led  the  way  to 
the  place  where  the  antelope  had  been  lying.  Here 
he  pointed  out  the  hoof  tracks  and  followed  them 
down  the  hill.  Before  long  he  stopped,  and  point- 
ing at  the  ground,  said,  "See  there."  Jack  looked, 
and  saw  a  dark  splash  on  the  ground,  and  clinging 
to  a  tuft  of  the  brown  prairie  grass,  several  bright 


v 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  8$ 

red  drops.  After  a  moment's  hesitation,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh,  that's  blood,  isn't  it  ?  Then  I  must 
have  hit  him." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  he  is  hit.  Now,  you  see  if  you  can 
follow  that  blood  trail.  Don't  keep  looking  at  the 
ground  just  in  front  of  you,  look  ahead  of  you  and 
don't  try  to  go  too  fast."  Jack  looked  on  the 
ground  ahead  of  him,  and  saw  other  splashes,  and 
starting  on,  soon  saw  that  he  could  follow  the  marks 
much  more  easily  and  quickly  in  that  way  than  he 
could  by  watching  those  which  were  close  under  his 
horse's  head.  They  went  on  for  a  hundred  yards 
further,  and  then,  as  they  rounded  the  point  of  a 
little  knoll,  Hugh  said,  "  There's  your  meat,"  and 
looking,  Jack  saw  something  white  showing  above 
the  grass,  and  a  moment  later  he  was  looking  down 
on  his  first  antelope. 

It  was  a  splendid  big  buck,  and  Jack,  jumping  off 
his  horse,  ran  to  it  and  for  a  moment  could  hardly 
believe  his  eyes.  Then  he  tore  off  his  hat  and 
threw  it  up  in  the  air  and  just  yelled  and  hurrahed 
as  loud  as  he  could.  Hugh  meantime,  smiling  as  if 
greatly  pleased,  had  thrown  down  the  ropes  of  both 
horses  and  twisted  them  around  a  sage-bush,  and 
when  he  came  up  to  the  antelope,  Jack  was  looking 
it  all  over,  opening  its  mouth,  stretching  out  its 
slender  legs,  and  smoothing  down  its  coarse  rough 
hair. 

"  Isn't  he  pretty,  though  ?  And  how  slim  his  legs 
are  !  No  wonder  he  can  run.  And  he's  got  a  black 
tongue,  just  like  a  pure  breed  Alderney  cow.  But  he 


86      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

must  be  pretty  old,  for  he  hasn't  got  any  front 
teeth  in  his  upper  jaw.  Do  you  think  he'll  be  very 
tough  ?  And  see,  he  only  has  two  hoofs  on  each 
foot.  Are  all  antelopes  that  way?  Some  caribou 
that  Uncle  Will  killed  once  in  Canada  had  four 
hoofs  on  each  foot,  two  little  ones  and  two  big  ones. 
Oh,  ain't  I  glad  I  didn't  miss.  But  I  never  thought 
about  missing.  I  just  aimed  as  near  as  I  could 
where  you  told  me  to.  I'm  so  glad  I  didn't  just 
wound  him.  Oh,  this  is  the  best  day  of  my  life." 
So  Jack  chattered  on,  until  Hugh  interrupted  him 
by  taking  hold  of  the  animal  and  turning  it  over, 
saying  as  he  did  so,  "  You  done  well,  my  son,  mighty 
well.  I  watched  you  shoot  and  you  couldn't  have 
done  better  if  you'd  been  killing  antelope  as  long 
as  I  have.  You  were  steady  as  a  rock.  Now,  look 
a'here.  You  see  this  little  hole  ?  That's  where  the 
ball  went  in  ;  and  this  big  one  is  where  it  came  out. 
You  want  to  remember  that ;  going  in,  the  ball 
makes  a  small  hole,  coming  out,  a  big  one.  You 
ask  a  heap  of  questions,  but  I'll  try  and  answer  some 
of  'em.  You'll  have  to  stop  on  the  prairie  longer 
than  I  have  to  find  an  antelope  with  front  teeth 
in  his  upper  jaw.  They  don't  have  'em.  No  more 
does  any  other  animal  that  I  ever  saw  that  chews 
the  cud.  First  chance  you  get,  look  at  a  cow's 
mouth,  or  a  deer's,  or  an  elk's,  or  a  sheep's.  You'll 
see  they're  all  alike  in  that.  A  horse  has  upper  front 
teeth,  and  so  does  a  hog,  but  those  are  about  the 
only  animals  that  eat  grass  that  has  'em,  in  this 
country.  Now,  we've  got  to  butcher.  I'll  do  that, 


JACK'S  FIRST  ANTELOPE  87 

because  I  know  how,  and  after  a  while  you  can  learn 
to.  I  guess  we'll  take  this  fellow  in  whole.  You'd 
like  to  have  'em  see  him  that  way,  I  reckon." 

Hugh  rapidly  prepared  the  animal  for  transporta- 
tion to  camp,  and  then,  bringing  up  the  horses  and 
tightening  the  saddles  on  both,  he  lifted  the  ante, 
lope  on  Old  Grey,  and  tied  it  on  behind  the  saddle 
with  the  leather  strings,  tied  its  head  up,  so  that  the 
horns  should  not  strike  the  horse,  and  the  legs  to  each 
of  the  cinch  rings  of  the  saddle.  Thus  it  was  firm. 

He  looked  at  the  sky  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said,  "  Let's  fill  the  pipe."  Sitting  down,  he  lit  his 
pipe,  and  while  he  smoked  said :  "  Antelope  don't 
have  no  front  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw,  as  I  told  you, 
and  they  don't  have  no  dew-claws  like  a  deer  or  a 
steer.  I  can't  tell  why  they  don't,  but  I  can  tell  you 
what  the  Indians  say  about  the  dew-claws.  Now  a 
deer  ain't  got  no  gall,  and  this  is  the  way  the  deer 
lost  his  gall  and  the  antelope  his  dew-claws. 

"  A  long  time  ago,  they  say,  deer  had  galls  and 
antelope  had  dew-claws.  According  to  the  Pawnees 
tell,  in  those  days  all  the  animals  could  talk  to  each 
other,  and  one  day  the  antelope  and  the  deer  met 
out  on  the  prairie.  They  had  quite  a  talk,  giving 
each  other  the  news,  and  at  last  the  deer  got  to 
bragging  about  himself,  telling  how  smart  he  was 
and  how  he  could  beat  all  the  other  animals  running. 
*  Why/  says  the  antelope,  '  you  may  be  a  pretty 
considerable  fast  runner,  but  you  couldn't  beat  me.' 
'  Bet  you  I  can, '  says  the  deer.  *  Bet  you  ye  can't,' 
says  the  antelope. 


88      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"  Well,  they  bantered  each  other  for  quite  a  spell, 
and  at  last  they  made  it  up  that  they'd  run  a  race 
on  the  prairie,  and  they  bet  their  galls  on  the  race. 
Whoever  won  was  to  take  both.  Well,  at  last  the 
day  came  for  the  race,  and  they  ran,  and  the  ante- 
lope beat  the  deer  all  hollow.  So  the  deer  handed 
over  his  gall  to  the  antelope.  He  felt  terrible  bad, 
about  it  though,  and  seemed  so  broke  up  that  the 
antelope  felt  sorry  for  him  and  made  him  a  present 
of  his  dew-claws,  to  make  his  heart  good." 

As  he  finished  the  story,  Hugh  knocked  the  fire 
out  of  his  pipe  and  said,  "  Well,  let's  be  going." 
They  mounted  and  rode  back  toward  the  ranch. 
Jack's  heart  was  full  of  gladness,  and  he  felt  proud 
of  what  he  had  done,  and  proud  that  Hugh  praised 
him.  As  they  rode  by  the  stables  and  up  to  the 
house,  one  of  the  cowboys  called  out  to  Hugh, 
"  Why  don't  you  carry  your  meat  instead  of  making 
the  kid  pack  it  ?  "  To  which  Hugh  replied,  winking 
at  Jack,  "  The  kid  killed  it,  and  the  kid's  got  to  pack 
it."  Jack  thought  this  a  very  good  joke. 


CHAPTER  IX 

JOHN  MONROE,  HALF-BREED 

WHEN  he  looked  out  of  the  window  next  morning, 
Jack  could  see  only  a  little  way,  for  it  was  snowing 
and  blowing  very  hard,  and  the  fine  snow-flakes  filled 
the  air  and  were  whirled  about  in  dense  clouds. 
The  brush  and  the  mountain  behind  the  house 
could  not  be  seen,  and  even  the  stables  and  corrals 
were  hidden. 

After  breakfast  he  sat  for  a  little  while  by  the 
window,  looking  out  and  watching  the  snow-flakes, 
but  he  soon  got  tired  of  that.  His  uncle  was 
writing  near  the  stove.  There  was  no  one  to  talk 
to,  and  he  did  not  feel  like  reading.  At  length  he 
thought  that  he  would  go  down  to  the  bunk-house 
where  the  men  slept,  and  see  what  Hugh  was  doing. 
He  could  see  the  outline  of  the  house  amid  the 
whirling  snow,  and  supposed  Hugh  was  there.  He 
told  his  uncle  what  he  was  going  to  do,  and  Mr. 
Sturgis  looked  up  and  said,  "  All  right,  go  down  to 
the  bunk-house,  but  go  straight  there,  don't  try  to 
go  anywhere  else.  It  is  easy  to  get  lost  in  this 
snow." 

When  Jack  entered  the  bunk-house,  a  great  cloud 

89 


90      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

of  snow  blew  in  the  open  door  after  him,  and  as  he 
banged  it  to  behind  him,  he  saw  Hugh  standing  up 
plaiting  a  raw-hide  rope,  Reuben  mending  his  sad- 
dle with  strings  of  wet  raw-hide,  which  he  took 
from  a  bucket  of  water  beside  him,  while  Joe  had 
his  feet  cocked  up  on  the  stove  and  was  smoking 
and  talking  to  the  others.  Jack  went  up  to  the 
stove  and  sat  down  on  a  box  near  Reuben,  and 
watched  him,  and  after  a  moment  Joe  went  on 
speaking. 

"  I  seen  Red  Cahill  yesterday  when  I  was  riding. 
He  was  going  down  from  Washakie  to  the  Fort,  and 
calculated  he'd  stop  all  night  to  Powell's.  He  told 
me  that  there's  five  head  of  our  horses  ranging  up 
on  Grey  Bull.  There's  the  old  gotch-eared  black 
mare,  and  her  three-year  old,  two-year  old,  and 
yearling,  and  that  yellow  gelding  that  the  boss 
traded  for  with  them  emigrants  when  they  came 
through  here  two  years  ago.  You  mind  we  ain't 
seen  that  gelding  since  his  feet  got  well,  and  I 
always  thought  he'd  took  the  trail  back  the  way 
he  come.  But  it  seems  not.  I  don't  expect  the 
round-up  will  fetch  them  horses  in,  but  it  may. 
Anyhow  we  can  go  and  get  'em  'most  any  time, 
only  it's  a  long  way  to  ride  for  five  head  of  horses. 

"  Did  Red  say  anything  about  the  Indians  at 
Washakie  ?  "  asked  Hugh. 

"  That's  what  he  did,"  said  Joe. 

"  He  said  we  won't  see  no  Indians  down  here  this 
summer.  You  know  them  Arapahoes  that's  up 
there  to  Washakie  is  kinder  friends  to  them  Chey< 


JOHN  MONROE,  HALF-BREED         91 

ennes  that  broke  out  last  fall  down  in  Kansas,  and  got 
took  in  to  Roberson,  and  then  broke  jail  there,  and 
most  all  got  killed.  He  says  there's  some  Chey- 
ennes  staying  up  there  with  the  Arapahoes  and 
they're  all  stirred  up  and  uneasy  over  that  killing 
down  to  Roberson." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  and  I  don't  wonder  at  it.  It 
was  a  doggoned  shame  the  way  they  treated  them 
Indians.  It  was  all  right  to  capture  them  and  bring 
'em  in  and  shut  'em  up.  That's  war  all  right  enough. 
But  after  they'd  got  'em  locked  up,  to  shut  down 
on  their  grub  and  their  water  was  about  the  worst 
thing  that  I  ever  heard  of  this  Government  doing, 
and  it  sure  done  some  pretty  bad  things.  I  don't 
care  so  much  for  the  men.  It's  men's  business  to 
get  into  trouble  and  to  fight  and  get  killed  or  to 
starve,  but  when  I  think  of  them  women  and  young 
girls  and  little  children  not  having  anything  to  eat 
or  drink  for  seven  days  I  tell  you  it  makes  me  mad. 
I  expect  if  them  folks  back  east  who  pretends  to 
think  so  much  about  Indians  could  know  about  that, 
they'd  raise  quite  a  fuss.  But  they  ain't  never  likely 
to  hear  of  it. 

"  What  was  it,  Hugh  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Oh,"  said  Hugh,  "  it  was  just  a  killing  of  In- 
dians, like  plenty  of  others  that's  happened  out  in 
this  western  country,  only  this  time  the  soldiers 
took  away  all  the  guns  the  Indians  had  and  didn't 
give  them  no  food  nor  water  for  seven  days  and  then 
they  let  'em  get  out,  and  killed  'em  as  they  run.  I 
believe  they  killed  sixty  or  seventy  of  them  and  all 


92      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

but  about  twenty  was  women  and  little  children,  but  I 
don't  feel  much  like  talking  about  it  any  more,  so 
let's  quit  it." 

Jack  had  never  before  heard  Hugh  speak  as  he 
spoke  now ;  so  sternly  and  sharply  that  Jack  had 
nothing  to  say  and  sat  silent  on  his  box,  watching 
the  others  work.  At  length  Reuben  ventured  a  re- 
mark and  said : 

"  This  here  snow-storm'll  do  a  heap  of  good  to 
the  meadows,  and  the  way  it's  blowing  now  it  orter 
pile  some  of  these  ravines  full  of  snow,  and  make 
the  water  last  a  heap  longer  than  it  commonly  does." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh.  "  This  is  going  to  be  a  right 
good  year,  for  feed,  and  this  here  storm  won't  do  no 
harm.  It  ain't  cold  enough  to  hurt  young  calves 
and  colts.  It  may  make  the  coyotes  a  little  hungry 
though,  and  if  any  one  of  you  boys  rides  to-morrow, 
he'd  better  take  some  baits  with  him — I  mean  to  put 
out  some  poison  along  the  mountains  myself. 

"  That's  a  good  idee,"  said  Joe  ;  "  I  believe  I'll  go 
out  and  mix  up  some  tallow  now." 

Joe  took  his  feet  down  from  the  stove,  yawned, 
stood  up,  and  walked  to  the  window  and  looked 
out.  Suddenly  he  exclaimed,  "  Gosh  !  "  and  step- 
ping out  the  door  uttered  a  loud  "  Hallo-o-a." 
Jack  ran  to  the  window  and  looked  out.  For  a 
moment  the  storm  had  lulled  ;  the  wind  had  stopped 
blowing,  and  the  snow  falling,  and  the  boy  saw,  a 
few  hundred  yards  away,  on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  a 
snow-covered  horseman,  followed  by  two  pack 
animals.  Joe's  shout  had  reached  the  rider,  who 


JOHN  MONROE,  HALF-BREED         93 

had  stopped  and  was  now  looking  toward  the  house. 
Then  the  wind  again  began  to  howl  and  the  snow  to 
fly,  and  in  an  instant  the  whole  scene  was  blotted 
out. 

Jack  went  outside  and  stood  by  Joe,  who  seemed 
to  be  listening.  "  What  is  it,  Joe  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Didn't  you  see  the  way  that  fellow  was  going  ? 
He  was  plum  lost,  heading  straight  for  the  moun- 
tains. If  he's  a  pilgrim  he'd  a  got  tangled  up  in 
the  ravines  and  likely  froze  to  death.  Don't  talk 
now  ;  listen."  In  a  moment,  the  two  were  joined 
by  Hugh  and  Rube,  and  all  stood  listening. 
Presently  some  one  said,  "  There  he  comes,"  and  a 
moment  later,  the  little  group  of  animals  stopped 
in  front  of  the  bunk-house.  The  rider  stiffly  dis- 
mounted, and  began  to  take  off  the  packs  from  his 
horses.  "  Well,  seh,"  he  said,  "  my  glad  my  get 
here." 

Hugh  stepped  out  into  the  snow  to  help  unpack 
the  stranger's  horses,  and  when  the  snow-covered 
man  saw  him,  he  exclaimed  in  surprise,  "  Why,  hallo, 
Hugh,  h'ole  man,  my  think  you  was  dead  long  time." 

"  Why,  I'm  durned  if  it  ain't  old  John  Monroe," 
said  Hugh.  "  Come  in,  come  in  and  get  dry  ;  the 
boys  '11  tend  to  your  horses.  Well,  well ;  how  are 
you  ?  Living  up  north,  yet  ?  How's  the  old  man  ? 
Tell  me  all  the  news." 

"  Well,  seh,"  said  old  John,  "  this  very  curieuse. 
My  comin*  down  here  pour  veeseet  my  girl.  She 
married  one  man,  live  on  Bear  River.  Now  my 
goin'  down  there,  meet  h'ole  Hugh.  Bien  curieuse/ 


94      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  he  stared  at  Hugh  as  if  he  could  hardly  believe 
his  eyes. 

Hugh  laughed.  "  Why,  son/'  he  said,  speaking 
to  Jack,  "  this  old  man  and  me  has  travelled  together 
a  good  many  years  when  I  stopped  up  north  with 
his  people.  You  see,  he's  a  Piegan  half-breed,  raised 
in  Canada  among  the  Crees  and  Frenchmen.  His 
father  came  out  into  this  country  long  before  I  was 
born,  must  have  been  more'n  sixty-five  years  ago. 
The  old  man  worked  for  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
in  early  days,  and  John  here  has  been  working  for 
fur  companies  all  his  life.  He's  one  of  the  best 
timber-hunters  that  ever  was.  I'm  right  glad  to  see 
him.  We'll  have  to  get  him  to  stop  with  us  here 
for  a  while,  I  expect." 

A  moment  later  Hugh  turned  to  John  and  spoke 
to  him  in  some  strange  language,  and  for  a  little 
while  Jack  sat  there  and  watched  the  two  talking 
and  making  signs  to  each  other.  He  had  heard  his 
uncle  tell  of  the  sign  language  that  the  Indians  used, 
and  he  felt  sure  that  this  must  be  it.  When  he  left 
them  to  go  up  to  the  house  the  two  men  were  still 
talking  busily. 

After  dinner  Jack  again  went  down  to  the  bunk- 
house.  Hugh  and  John  were  still  giving  the  news 
to  each  other,  but  now  they  spoke  a  language  that 
Jack  could  understand — that  is,  Hugh  did,  but 
John's  English  made  up  only  a  small  part  of  his 
speech,  which  was  partly  French  and  partly  Indian, 
with  a  good  many  signs.  Some  parts  of  what  he 
said  Jack  could  not  understand  at  all. 


JOHN  MONROE,  HALF-BREED         9$ 

"  Well,  son,"  said  Hugh  after  awhile,  "  I  have  got 
a  whole  bag  full  of  news  from  up  north,  and  I'm 
mighty  glad  to  have  it.  I've  got  a  whole  lot  of 
friends  in  the  Blackfoot  camp,  and  I've  got  plenty 
of  questions  yet  to  ask  the  old  man. 

"  Tell  me,  John,  are  the  young  men  going  to 
war  much  these  days  ?  In  my  time  with  the  tribe 
the  horse-stealing  parties  were  out  about  all  the 
time,  except  in  the  worst  winter  weather,"  said 
Hugh. 

"  Yas/'  answered  John,  "  plenty  war-parties  he 
goin*  h'out  h'all  time,  take  plenty  horses.  Goin'  to 
Crow,  h'Assinaboine,  Gros  Ventres,  Pend  d'Oreilles, 
h'all  peoples.  Sometime  goin'  'gainst  white  mans." 

"  And  I  suppose  plenty  of  people  come  to  war 
against  them,  too,"  said  Hugh.  "  If  they  take  lots 
of  horses,  they  lose  lots  too,  I  expect." 

"  Hoh'  yas,"  said  John,  "  plenty  horses  stolen. 
Last  summer  Crows  he  take  'im  'bout  two  hundred, 
one  night.  Lone  Person  he  loss  'bout  hundred. 
You  know  it  Heavy  Runner — white  mans  call  'im 
Brocky.  Well,  seh,  last  summer,  Crees  he  comin* 
down  pour  steal  'im  horses.  Somebody  see  it, 
h'every  body  h'  running  try  pour  keel  'im  Crees. 
Young  man,  Wolf  Eagle,  Cree  shoot  it  'im  in  h'arm. 
Heavy  Runner  he  chase  'im  one  Cree ;  Cree  jump 
in  washout  pour  fight ;  shoot  it  'im  Heavy  Runner 
in  forehead  ;  Heavy  Runner  shoot  it,  keel  'im  Cree. 
Heavy  Runner  get  well,  may  be  bullet  follow  bone 
of  his  haid  round,  no  go  through.  Plenty  dances 
«ver  Cree  his  scalp.  War  now,  not  so  good  lak*  in 


96      JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

h'ole  days.  Too  much  soldier  now ;  chase  it  wai* 
party,  take  away  horses." 

"  Yes,  I  expect  it's  a  heap  different  up  there  now 
from  what  it  used  to  be ;  like  it  is  everywhere  in 
the  country  since  the  railroads  come  and  turned 
things  upside  down.  There's  too  many  people  in 
the  country  now,  and  they  ain't  the  right  sort  of 
people  either." 

"  Yas,  Hugh,  h'ole  man,  peoples  lak*  you  an'  me 
we  can'  change,  we  too  h'ole.  We  been  loky  we 
was  borned  in  good  times,  mais  we  had  bad  lok  we 
lived  too  long." 

"  Well,  anyhow,  John,  I'd  like  mighty  well  to  go 
up  north  again,  and  maybe  I  will  some  day.  When 
you  goin'  back  there  ?  " 

"  My  not  know  yet.  Maybe  one,  two  mont'. 
Suppose  maybe  you  goin'  back  sem  time  my  go  ?  " 

"  John  stopped  talking,  and  taking  his  pipe  from 
his  fire  bag,  began  to  clean  and  fill  it.  This  was 
rather  a  long  slow  process,  during  which  nothing 
was  said.  After  the  pipe  was  going  well,  John  sat 
back,  and  casting  his  eyes  about  the  bunk-house 
noticed  the  bear-skin  hanging  against  the  wall. 
Pointing  to  it,  he  said,  "You  kill  it*  'im  bear, 
Hugh?" 

"  No,  the  boss  killed  that  fellow.  It  must  have 
just  come  out,  for  it  was  right  fat.  There  is  lots  of 
bears  here,  John,  but  no  buffalo.  We've  got  to  go 
more'n  two  hundred  miles  to  kill  buffalo.  Last 
year  I  seen  one  dead  one  out  on  the  prairie  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  here,  but  that's  the  only  one 


JOHN  MONROE,  HALF-BREED         97 

I've  seen  about  here  in  a  long  time.     Plenty  buffalo 
up  north,  I  expect." 

"  Plenty,"  was  the  answer.  '•  He  trade  it  two 
store,  Carroll.  H'all  H'ingin'  comin'  trade  ;  Cree, 
h'Assinaboine,  Gros  Ventres,  Sircee,  Blackfeet, 
Blood,  Piegan ;  got  plenty  whisky,  trade  plenty 
h'robe.  Sometime  he  faightin',  les  chauvages,  when 
he  bin  dronk.  Sometimes  he  keel  it  two  tree 
H'ingin'  faightin :  sometime  in  winter,  cole  he  keel 
it,  froze  'im  so  he  was  die.  You  know  it  Calf  Shirt, 
Blood  Chief ;  well,  seh,  he  keel  it  'im  white  mans. 
Calf  Shirt  he  dronk,  want  keel  it  white  mans,  one 
h'woman  run  quick  tole  um.  When  Calf  Shirt 
comin'  pour  faight,  white  mans  shoot  it  'im,  maybe 
six,  seven,  ten  time.  Soon  he  daid." 

"  Well,  well ! "  exclaimed  Hugh,  "  It's  like  old 
times  yet  up  north  after  all." 
7 


CHAPTER  X 

COWS  IN  A  SNOW-DRIFT 

THE  next  morning  the  snow  had  ceased  falling 
and  the  sun  shone  bright  and  clear.  Hugh  declared 
that  it  was  just  the  day  for  putting  out  his  coyote 
baits,  which  he  intended  to  string  along  the  moun- 
tains north  of  the  house,  to  try  to  poison  some  of 
the  coyotes  that  were  watching  the  calves.  These 
baits  were  blocks  of  wood  in  which  one  and  a  half 
inch  augur  holes  had  been  bored  to  a  depth  of  three 
inches.  Into  these  holes  melted  tallow  had  been 
poured  until  the  holes  were  full.  The  coyotes  were 
expected  to  eat  little  balls  of  tallow  containing 
strychnine  scattered  on  the  ground,  and  to  remain 
near  the  blocks,  licking  at  the  tallow  in  the  augur 
holes,  until  the  poison  which  they  had  taken  should 
act,  so  that  they  would  die  near  the  blocks.  Thus 
the  wolfer  would  get  the  skins  of  the  animals  that 
he  killed. 

Hugh  put  the  blocks  containing  the  baits  in  two 
sacks  and  lashed  them  on  a  pack  horse,  and  soon 
with  Jack  and  John  he  was  riding  through  the  snow 
north  along  the  mountain-side.  Soon  after  starting, 

Hugh  tied  a  piece  of  elk-hide  to  one  end  of  his  rope, 
98 


COWS  IN  A  SNOW-DRIFT  99 

and  taking  a  turn  of  the  other  around  the  horn  of 
his  saddle,  dragged  it  behind  him  over  the  snow. 
This,  he  told  Jack,  was  to  lead  the  wolves  to  follow 
the  trail,  so  that  they  might  come  to  the  baits. 
"  Of  course,"  he  said,  "  they'd  follow  it  up  anyhow, 
but  the  smell  of  this  hide'll  keep  'em  thinking  about 
eating."  After  they  had  gone  a  few  hundred  yards, 
Hugh  dismounted  on  top  of  a  little  ridge,  and  here 
threw  down  one  of  his  pieces  of  wood,  and  about  it 
scattered  several  balls  of  poisoned  tallow  and  a 
handful  of  chips  of  dried  meat,  which  he  took  from 
a  sack.  This  he  repeated  at  intervals  of  half  a  mile 
as  they  went  along.  When  they  reached  the  spot 
where  the  cows  were,  they  found  most  of  them 
feeding  on  a  warm,  sheltered  hillside,  which  was 
almost  free  from  snow.  There  were  now  many 
more  calves  than  when  they  had  seen  them  last. 
Hugh  sat  for  a  long  time  looking  at  the  animals, 
while  John  Monroe  rode  to  the  top  of  a  near-by  hill, 
from  which  after  a  moment  he  called  aloud,  made 
some  motions  with  his  hands  and  pointed. 

"That's  good,"  said  Hugh  to  Jack.  "He  sees 
them  cows."  They  galloped  up  to  John  who  mo- 
tioned toward  the  mountains  where  a  number  of 
dark  animals  were  seen  standing  in  the  snow. 

"Well,  John,'*  said  Hugh,  "we've  got  to  get  them 
out.  It's  a  bad  place,  too.  There's  a  big  drift 
there.  I'll  bet  the  snow's  four  feet  deep." 

Riding  toward  the  cows,  they  saw  that  there  were 
seven  of  them  standing  in  the  deep  snow,  which 
teached  half  way  up  to  their  backs.  Two  or  three 


ioo    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

of  them  had  moved  a  little,  treading  down  the  snow 
about  them  so  that  they  had  room  to  turn  around ; 
beside  these,  calves  were  standing.  All  the  cows 
looked  cold  and  hungry  and  fierce-eyed,  and  two 
or  three  shook  their  heads  angrily  as  the  horsemen 
pushed  their  way  toward  them  through  the  ever- 
deepening  snow. 

"  Well,  now,  boys,"  said  Hugh,  "  we've  got  to 
break  a  road  as  near  the  critters  as  we  can,  and  then 
rope  'em  and  snake  'em  out.  Son,  you'll  have  to 
look  out.  Every  one  of  them  cows  is  fighting  mad, 
and  likely  every  one  of  'em's  got  a  calf,  which  will 
make  her  fight  harder.  John,  you  and  me'd  better 
take  this  nearest  one  first.  Son,  when  we  get  the 
ropes  on  her,  maybe  you  can  get  around  and  hurry 
the  calf  along  close  to  her." 

For  a  few  moments  Hugh,  John  and  Jack  rode 
back  and  forth  through  the  deep  snow,  until  they 
had  broken  a  trail  from  a  point  where  the  snow  was 
only  knee-deep  nearly  to  where  the  nearest  cow 
stood.  Each  time  when  they  got  near  her,  she 
shook  her  head  at  them  and  looked  as  if  she  were 
going  to  charge.  When  the  road  through  the 
snow  was  pretty  well  broken,  John  and  Hugh  rode 
up  near  to  the  cow,  and  then  separating,  each  of 
them  threw  his  rope.  Hugh's  settled  fairly  over 
both  horns,  but  John's  caught  only  one  of  them, 
slipped  off  and  had  to  be  gathered  and  thrown 
again.  Then  both  men  turned  their  horses  toward 
the  path  and  slowly  dragged  the  cow  over  and 
through  the  snow.  As  the  cow,  bellowing  and 


COWS  IN  A  SNOW-DRIFT  101 

struggling  furiously,  passed  along,  a  pitiful  feeble 
cry  came  from  the  hole  where  she  had  stood,  and 
Jack,  spurring  his  horse  up  to  the  place,  saw  stand- 
ing there  a  little  weak  staggering  calf.  The  snow 
was  deep,  even  where  the  cow  had  been  dragged, 
and  the  calf  could  not  get  out  of  the  hole.  As  Jack 
sat  there  gazing  at  it,  suddenly  a  rope  flew  over  the 
calf  s  neck,  and  looking,  Jack  saw  John  whirling  his 
horse,  and  then  saw  the  calf  fly  out  of  the  hole  and 
over  the  snow  at  the  end  of  the  rope.  He  followed 
to  where  Hugh  sat  on  his  horse  by  the  cow,  which 
lay  on  its  side,  all  tangled  up  in  the  rope.  There 
John  loosed  the  calf,  which,  after  a  moment,  stag- 
gered to  its  feet ;  and  then  Hugh,  by  a  few  jerks 
on  his  rope,  freed  the  cow,  which  got  up  and  began 
to  lick  the  calf.  Then,  the  two  old  men  rode  back 
to  where  the  other  cows  stood  in  the  snow.  Jack 
could  not  understand  why  the  calf  had  not  been 
choked  to  death,  nor  how  the  cow  had  been  tied, 
and  then  so  suddenly  untied.  He  determined  that 
he  would  watch.  He  hurried  back  to  where  the 
men  were  breaking  another  path,  but  before  he 
reached  them  they  had  roped  the  cow  and  were 
dragging  it  over  and  through  the  snow.  The  cow 
bellowed  piteously,  but  moved  along  so  steadily  and 
fast  that  she  could  not  struggle.  Jack  drew  out  of 
the  way  to  let  them  pass,  and  then  rode  up  to  the 
hole,  where  he  saw  the  little  calf.  This  time  he 
thought  he  would  try  his  hand ;  he  threw  his  rope 
twice  and  at  last  it  went  over  the  calf's  head  ;  then 
he  very  gently  pulled  it  tight,  and  taking  a  turn  of 


102    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  rope  over  the  saddle-horn,  turned  and  rode 
slowly  toward  the  others.  He  did  not  want  to  go 
fast,  for  he  did  not  want  to  hurt  the  calf.  Before 
he  had  gone  far  he  met  John  riding  back.  He 
called  to  him  :  "  Hurry  !  hurry  !  Ride  more  fast, 
else  you're  goin*  kill  'im  de  calf.  You  choke  it  *im." 
Jack  hurried  on  then,  and  stopped  when  he  was 
near  Hugh,  who,  as  before,  was  holding  the  tied  cow. 
"  Loose  the  calf  as  quick  as  you  can,  son,  and  let 
it  get  up."  Jack  dismounted  and  took  the  rope 
from  the  calf's  neck,  but  it  lay  there  perfectly  still. 

44  Oh,  Hugh,  I'm  afraid  I've  killed  it,"  said  Jack. 

Hugh  dismounted  quickly,  leaving  the  horse 
standing  with  the  rope  stretched  tightly  between 
the  horn  of  the  saddle  and  the  cow,  and  walked  to 
the  calf. 

44  You  choked  it  too  long,"  he  said.  "  But  I  guess 
we  can  fix  it."  He  worked  over  the  calf  for  a  little 
while,  and  soon  it  began  to  breathe  again  without 
any  help. 

44  There !  He's  all  right  now;  but  the  next  time 
you  snake  a  calf  by  the  neck,  hurry  him  along.  If 
you  cut  off  his  wind  too  long,  he'll  die  on  you." 

44  Why,  the  reason  I  went  slowly  was  that  I  didn't 
want  to  hurt  it.  If  Mr.  Monroe  hadn't  told  me  to 
come  faster,  it  would  have  been  dead  before  I  got 
here.0 

44  It  sure  would,"  said  Hugh.  «  If  you're  hand- 
ling  cattle  you  have  to  be  quick  about  it  often.  It's 
easier  on  the  critters,  even  if  it  does  look  rough. 
There,  that  calf  can  stand  now,  I  guess.  Let's  drag 


COWS  IN  A  SNOW-DRIFT  103 

it  over  to  its  mother  and  turn  her  loose.  Now  we've 
got  to  get  the  others  out.  I  expect  old  John'll 
wonder  what's  keeping  us." 

He  took  the  calf  by  the  fore  legs  and  dragged  it 
over  the  snow  to  where  its  mother  lay,  then  mounted 
his  horse,  and  seeing  that  Jack  also  had  mounted, 
quickly  freed  the  cow  from  the  rope.  When  she 
sprung  to  her  feet,  she  ran  to  the  calf  and  began  to 
lick  it,  and  in  a  few  moments  it  stood  up.  Mean- 
time Jack  and  Hugh  had  gone  back  and  met  John, 
who  was  slowly  dragging  a  large  cow  over  the  snow. 
She  struggled  and  fought,  and  the  little  pony  that 
John  was  riding  had  his  hands  full  to  keep  her 
moving  in  the  right  direction.  As  soon  as  Hugh's 
rope  fell  over  her  horns,  and  the  two  horses  began 
to  pull  together,  she  moved  swiftly  and  steadily 
along.  Jack  rode  on  to  get  the  calf.  At  first  he 
thought  there  was  none  there,  but  looking  carefully 
he  saw  a  foot  and  part  of  a  leg  sticking  out  from  the 
snow  where  the  cow  had  been  standing.  He  dis- 
mounted, and  digging  away  the  snow,  by  pulling 
and  pushing  he  brought  to  light  a  big  strong  calf, 
which  at  once  stood  up.  This  time,  Jack  did  not  try 
to  be  tender  with  the  calf.  He  threw  his  rope  over 
its  head,  took  the  turn  of  his  rope  over  the  saddle- 
horn,  pulled  the  calf  up  out  of  the  snow  pit  and  then 
galloped  back  to  where  the  cow  lay.  As  soon  as  he 
cast  the  rope  off  the  calf,  which  this  time  he  did 
without  dismounting,  the  animal  stood  up  and 
bawled  for  its  mother.  Hugh  turned  her  loose,  and 
they  all  went  back  for  another  cow.  In  this  way  they 


104    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

pulled  out  all  the  cows  and  their  calves,  and  before 
the  middle  of  the  day  had  started  back  to  the 
ranch. 

The  weather  had  become  milder,  and  now  the  snow 
was  melting  a  little.  "  Might  be  such  a  thing,  my 
son,  as  we'd  find  a  coyote  at  some  of  these  baits. 
'Tain't  likely  though.  Still  well  go  back  the  same 
way  we  came." 

"  Snow  on  ground,  maybe  coyotes  pretty  hungry. 
Why  you  no  make  'em  trap  like  H'ingin  ?  "  said 
John. 

"  Ain't  wolves  enough  for  it,  and  besides  that,  I 
don't  believe  I  ever  thought  of  it  before.  Might  be 
a  good  idea,  though.  Maybe  I'll  try  it  next  winter, 
if  coyotes  is  anyways  like  as  plenty  as  they  are  nowr 
Poison's  no  good  any  more." 

"What  kind  of  trap  is  that,  Hugh?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Why,  it's  sorter  like  a  pitfall  trap  that  I've  heard 
tell  of.  You  kill  a  bull,  and  all  around  him  build  up 
a  kind  of  a  fence  of  poles  close  together,  and  all 
leaning  toward  each  other  at  the  top,  where  you 
leave  quite  a  hole.  Then  you  pile  up  rocks  and 
dirt  around  your  poles,  so's  to  make  a  little  mound 
for  the  wolves  to  walk  on  up  to  the  hole.  If  they're 
hungry  enough  they'll  jump  down  into  the  hole  to 
get  at  the  meat,  but  they  can't  jump  out  again  be- 
cause the  hole  is  too  high  up.  They  can't  climb  up 
the  poles  and  they  can't  dig  through  'em.  So  there 
you've  got  *em." 

"  Long  time  ago,"  said  John,  "  he  catch  'im 
plenty  big  wolves,  plenty  coyote  that  way,  It* 


COWS  IN  A  SNOW-DRIFT  105 

ekauvages.  My  grand'mere,  when  she  was  little 
girl,  'bout  as  h'ole  as  Jacques,  H'ingins  not  make  it 
beaver,  not  make  it  h'robes  pour  trade.  H'only 
trade  'im  wolf  skin.  Ver'  curieuse." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Monroe,"  said  Jack,  "  is  that  a  coyote 
<s>ff  there  ?  " 

"  No,  that  sinopah — what  you  say  it,  Hugh  ?  "  was 
the  reply. 

"  Kit  fox  is  what  I  call  him,  some  calls  'em  swift. 
I've  heard  folks  say  that  they  were  the  fastest  thing 
that  runs  on  the  prairie,  but  it  ain't  so,  by  a  long 
shot.  There's  just  plenty  of  swifter  animals.  Still 
you  can  see  easy  enough  where  people  get  the  idea 
that  they  run  so  fast.  They're  mighty  level-gaited 
and  seem  to  sort  o'  glide  along  instead  of  running. 
Just  watch  that  fellow  now  and  see  how  smooth  he 
runs. 

"  Hallo,  Hugh,"  interrupted  John,  "  you  get  it 
one  coyote  ?  " 

"  Well,  looks  like  it,  don't  it  ?  "  said  Hugh.  The 
little  wolf  lay  near  the  block  of  wood,  from  the  holes 
in  which  much  of  the  tallow  had  been  licked.  It 
was  a  pretty  creature,  about  as  large  as  a  small 
setter  dog,  yellowish  grey  in  colour,  and  with  thick 
heavy  fur  and  a  bushy  tail.  Its  sharp  nose  gave  it 
a  wise,  cunning  look. 

"  He  been  two  of  it  here,  Hugh,"  said  John, 
whose  eyes  was  constantly  wandering  about  over  the 
snow.  "  Two  coyote  and  sinopah." 

"  Yes ;  the  other  one's  gone  back  along  the  trail 
to  the  ranch.  They've  eat  uo  all  the  scraps  I  scat- 


io6    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

tered  here.  Well,  I'll  put  this  one  on  the  horse,  and 
skin  it  at  the  house."  Hugh  thrust  the  coyote  into 
one  of  the  sacks  on  the  pack  horse,  and  they  went 
on. 

A  mile  or  two  further  along  on  the  trail  they 
found  where  the  second  coyote  had  turned  off  to- 
ward the  mountain,  and  both  men  said  that  this  one 
had  probably  not  eaten  any  of  the  poisoned  tallow. 
That  afternoon  Hugh  showed  Jack  how  to  skin  a 
coyote. 


CHAPTER  XI 

JACK'S  FIRST  ELK 

THE  next  two  or  three  weeks  were  warm  and 
bright  and  the  snow  melted  fast.  The  little  brooks 
that  ran  down  from  the  mountains  were  full  of 
water.  Out  on  the  edge  of  the  hay  meadows  the 
men  were  working  with  ploughs,  spades  and  hoes, 
mending  the  irrigation  ditches,  which  would  be  used 
to  turn  the  water  on  the  hay  land  after  all  the  snow 
water  had  run  off  and  the  dry  season  had  come. 
There  was  much  of  this  work  to  be  done,  and  all 
were  busy  at  it,  except  John  Monroe  and  Jack,  who 
rode  together  each  day. 

One  morning  they  went  out  to  look  at  the  cows, 
and  then  on  past  them,  and  out  to  the  end  of  the 
mountain.  Here  turning  west,  they  followed  a  nar- 
row winding  trail  up  the  hill,  until  they  had  reached 
the  crest  of  the  ridge  and  could  look  over  much  of 
the  prairie  below.  Here  they  dismounted,  and 
leaving  the  horses  in  a  little  hollow  where  they  could 
feed,  they  clambered  upon  a  high  rock-crowned 
knoll  and  sat  there  looking  over  the  prairie.  It  was 
a  wide  and  beautiful  prospect  that  they  saw ;  fifteen 

or  twenty  miles  of  prairie,  which  from  this  height 

107 


io8    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

looked  as  if  it  were  level,  marked  here  and  there  with 
lakes  that  shone  like  silver  in  the  sun,  or  with  white 
patches  of  snow  in  the  sheltered  ravines.  Beyond 
were  mountains  ;  those  in  front  of  them  dotted  with 
black  pines  and  with  white  patches  of  rock ;  those 
to  the  right  rising  in  brown  foothills  to  peaks  which 
were  almost  as  red  as  blood.  Suddenly,  John,  who 
had  been  smoking  in  silence,  said  :  "  My  see  'im  two 
h'elk." 

"  Two  elk,  Mr.  Monroe  ;  oh,  where  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"You  look  on  prairie,  that  a- way,"  said  John, 
pointing,  "  just  crossin'  from  Chalk  Bluff  there, 
Two  small  little  spots  movin'.  That  h'elk." 

Jack  strained  his  eyes  to  find  them,  but  he  could 
see  nothing.  He  had  not  yet  learned  how  to  look 
for  objects  on  the  prairie.  Presently,  just  as  he  was 
going  to  tell  John  that  he  could  not  see  them,  he 
dropped  his  eyes  to  the  prairie  nearer  the  point  of 
the  mountain  and  saw  two  dark  spots,  which  seemed 
to  be  moving. 

"  I  see  them  now,  Mr.  Monroe,"  he  exclaimed 
eagerly.  "  Are  those  elk  ?  I  don't  see  how  you 
know.  I  can  see  that  they  move,  and  so  they  must 
be  animals,  but  I  should  never  know  what  they 
were." 

"  Yes,  that's  h'elks,"  repeated  John.  "  Suppose 
you  want  it  kill  'im  one  h'elk  ?  Get  it  some  meat  ?  " 

"  Oh,  wouldn't  I  like  to  ?  Could  we  get  a  shot, 
do  you  think  ?  They're  awful  far  off,"  said  Jack. 

"  Maybe  he  comin*  right  up  here.  Suppose  he 
comin'  up  one  trail,  he  come  to  us.  Suppose  he 


JACK'S  FIRST  ELK  109 

take  trail  we  come  by,  smell  'im  horses,  then  goin' 
run  off  quick.  Suppose  we  go  to  point  of  mountain, 
see  'im  bote  trails.  Maybe  we  get  it  shot.  Come." 

They  clambered  down  from  the  rocks  and  soon 
caught  their  horses.  Jack  mounted  first,  and  sat 
there  impatient  to  start.  But  John  checked  him, 
saying : 

"  Suppose  no  hurry.  Good  you  fix  it  saddle." 
So  Jack  controlled  himself,  and  remembering  what 
Hugh  had  told  him  about  taking  care  of  his  horse's 
back,  he  dismounted  and  tightened  his  saddle. 
John  had  done  the  same,  and  they  mounted  and 
rode  off  together,  keeping  on  the  crest  of  a  ridge,  on 
one  side  of  which  ran  the  trail  they  had  followed  up 
the  hill.  On  the  other  side  was  a  little  valley  over- 
grown with  aspens,  among  which  ran  a  brook. 

If  he  had  been  alone,  Jack  would  have  galloped 
as  hard  as  he  could  to  the  end  of  this  ridge,  so  as  to 
see  the  elk  soon  and  to  find  out  what  they  were 
doing,  but  he  remembered  again  what  Hugh  had 
told  him,  and  he  remembered  too,  how  he  had  lost 
the  first  antelope  he  had  tried  to  hunt.  So  he  asked 
no  questions  and  rode  quietly  along,  feeling  pretty 
sure  that  John  must  know  what  he  was  doing.  At 
length,  when  they  had  nearly  reached  what  seemed 
the  end  of  the  ridge,  John  pointed  to  the  valley 
where  the  brook  ran,  and  said  : 

"  Suppose  he  comin*  h'up  there,  we  get  'im  suer." 
A  little  while  afterward,  he  said, "  Leave  'em  horses 
here,"  and  dismounted,  and  taking  his  gun  from  its 
scabbard,  he  walked  forward  toward  the  end  of  the 


I io    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

ridge,  where  great  rocks  lay  scattered  over  the 
ground.  Jack,  as  he  followed,  noticed  that  John  as, 
he  walked,  made  no  sound.  The  gravel  did  not 
crunch  under  his  moccasins,  his  trousers  did  not  rub 
against  the  weeds  and  bushes.  As  he  made  each 
step,  his  toe  touched  the  ground  first,  then  the  ball 
of  his  foot,  and  then  his  heel.  If  he  had  been  a  cat 
walking  over  a  carpet,  he  could  not  have  made  less 
noise.  It  seemed  to  Jack  that  every  time  he  himself 
put  down  his  foot,  it  made  a  loud  rattling  on  the 
ground,  the  sides  of  his  feet  scraped  against  the 
bushes,  and  he  made  a  great  noise.  Before  they  had 
gone  very  far,  John  turned  and  made  a  sign  for  Jack 
to  stop.  Then  he  cautiously  went  forward  and 
peered  over  some  rocks,  and  then  slowly  lowering 
his  head,  he  beckoned  Jack  to  come  to  him.  When 
he  had  reached  John,  the  old  man  pointed  and 
said  :  "  Suppose  you  look.  See  'im  h'elk  comin' 
h'up  this  side  ?  " 

Jack  raised  his  head  very  cautiously  and  looked 
over  the  rock,  and  there,  only  a  few  hundred  yards 
away,  coming  up  the  side  of  the  ridge  he  saw  two 
animals  nearly  as  big  as  horses.  Their  bodies  and 
legs  were  graceful  and  deer  like,  but  they  carried 
their  heads  and  necks  very  awkwardly.  Their  noses 
pointed  straight  out  in  front,  and  they  moved  their 
heads  slowly  from  side  to  side.  They  had  no  horns, 
but  where  the  horns  should  have  been  were  odd 
thick  bunches,  only  a  little  longer  than  their  ears. 
Their  bodies  were  brownish  yellow.  He  had  hardly 
had  time  to  see  these  things,  when  John  touched 


JACK'S  FIRST  ELK  in 

him  on  the  shoulder,  and  motioned  him  to  come 
with  him.  They  went  back  a  little  distance  from 
the  rocks,  and  entering  a  ravine  that  ran  down  to  the 
valley,  crept  part  of  the  way  toward  the  timber,  and 
then  up  the  side  of  the  ravine  toward  the  elk. 
From  the  top  of  the  ridge  they  could  see  the  game 
coming  directly  toward  them.  The  animals  did  not 
stop  to  feed,  but  walked  straight  on,  as  if  they  were 
going  somewhere. 

"  Soon  he  comin*  close.  Suppose  you  shoot,  try 
kill  'im  daid.  Suppose  he  wounded,  maybe  run  far. 
Hard  time  catch  'im.  That  bad.  Now  wait." 

For  some  minutes  they  sat  there,  John  saying 
nothing  and  doing  nothing,  but  Jack  feeling  very 
anxious.  He  remembered  the  great  pair  of  elk  ant- 
lers that  his  uncle  had  at  home,  and  though  these 
elk  here  had  no  horns,  still  they  were  the  same  kind 
of  animals.  He  wanted  very  much  to  kill  one,  and 
his  heart  had  been  beating  fast  ever  since  he  had 
started.  While  they  sat  there  though,  he  seemed  to 
quiet  down  a  little  ;  he  still  wanted  just  as  much  to 
kill  the  elk,  but  when  he  saw  how  calm  John  was,  he 
felt  a  little  bit  ashamed  that  he  should  be  so  excited, 
and  this  made  him  cool  down  still  more.  At  length 
John  said :  "  Suppose  h'elk  pretty  close.  My  goin* 
look  now."  He  crept  up  and  peeped  over  the  ridge 
and  then  drawing  back,  motioned  Jack  to  come 
to  his  side,  which  he  did,  creeping  as  close  to 
the  ground  as  possible.  John  signed  to  him  to 
shoot.  He  crept  up  very  carefully,  raised  his  head 
slowly,  and  there  he  saw  these  two  great  animals 


U2     JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

about  to  cross  the  ravine,  hardly  forty  yards  below 
him.  They  were  walking,  but,  before  he  raised  his 
rifle  to  shoot,  both  elk  stopped,  and  seemed  to  be 
looking  over  the  country  beyond  the  ravi  Jack 
aimed  carefully  behind  the  elk's  shoulder  and  low 
down,  and  fired.  Both  elks  slowly  turned  their  heads 
and  looked  toward  the  hunters,  but  neither  moved. 
"  Shoot,"  whispered  John,  and  Jack  threw  out  his 
shell,  loaded  and  shot  again,  aiming  at  the  same 
place,  and,  as  the  second  shot  rang  out,  the  elk  fell 
on  its  side,  and  its  companion  turned  and  trotted 
swiftly  away. 

"  Ha !  You  shoot  good,"  said  John,  as  he  rose  to 
his  feet  and  walked  toward  where  the  elk  lay.  Jack 
wanted  to  shout  out  hurrahs,  he  was  so  glad,  but  he 
said  nothing  and  walked  along  by  John's  side,  try- 
ing to  seem  unconcerned,  but  with  a  broad  smile  of 
happiness  upon  his  face.  In  a  moment  they  had 
reached  the  great  animal,  which  lay  there  with  its 
slender  brown  legs  outstretched,  and  its  smooth  yel- 
low body  glistening  in  the  sun. 

"  Ha ! "  said  John,  "  You  make  it  good  shoot. 
Good  shoot,"  and  he  pointed  to  the  elk's  body, 
where,  close  behind  the  fore  leg,  were  two  tiny  holes, 
not  two  inches  apart,  where  both  the  boy's  bullets 
had  entered.  Either  shot  would  have  killed  him. 

While  Jack  was  looking  at  the  elk,  admiring  his 
graceful,  strong  body,  and  wondering  at  the  queer, 
soft  warm  bunches  that  grew  out  of  his  head,  and 
which  he  knew  must  be  the  young  growing  horns, 
John  sharpened  his  knife  and  prepared  to  cut  up  the 


JACK'S  FIRST  ELK  113 

bull.  Bending  its  head  back  close  to  one  of  its  shoul- 
ders, he  turned  the  animal  on  its  back,  and  propped 
it  in  position  by  placing  a  large  stone  under  its  hip. 
Before  using  his  knife,  however,  he  said  to  Jack, 
"  Suppose  you  no  want  it  skin,  take  it  meat  to  house. 
Now,  skin  no  good  for  moccasins.  Bimeby,  be 
good." 

Jack  would  have  liked  to  carry  in  the  whole  elk, 
so  that  all  might  see  what  a  splendid  animal  he  had 
killed,  but  he  was  ashamed  to  say  so  to  John,  and 
returned  a  cheerful  "  All  right,"  to  his  suggestion. 

John's  sharp  knife  quickly  cut  off  the  elk's  hams 
and  shoulders  and  then,  turning  the  animal  on  its 
side,  the  long  strips  of  meat  lying  on  either  side  of 
the  back-bone — the  sirloins — were  torn  out.  Then 
very  deftly  John  tied  the  hams  together  and  threw 
them  across  Jack's  saddle,  fastening  them  to  the 
cinch  rings,  put  the  shoulders  and  sirloins  on  his  own 
horse,  and  they  mounted  and  rode  off  down  the 
mountain. 

The  ride  toward  the  ranch  was  a  happy  one  for 
Jack.  He  was  glad  that  he  had  killed  the  elk,  glad 
that  he  had  made  two  such  good  shots,  and  he 
hummed  a  little  song  to  himself  as  he  rode  along  and 
every  now  and  then  reached  down  and  smoothed 
the  skin  of  the  elk  hams.  He  could  not  help  think- 
ing how  badly  he  would  have  felt  if  he  had  missed 
the  shot,  and  the  elk  had  run  away,  or  even  if  he 
had  missed  and  John  had  killed  it.  This  was 
much  better. 

Although  this  was  only  the  second  animal  that  he 
8 


114    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

had  killed,  Jack  was  beginning  to  feel  some  confi, 
dence  in  his  shooting,  and  was  beginning  too  to  under- 
stand that  he  knew  nothing  about  hunting.  He 
could  not  understand  how  it  was  that  Hugh  and 
John  seemed  to  know  exactly  what  to  do.  He 
could  see  though  that  they  were  never  in  a  hurry, 
that  they  were  not  uneasy  about  whether  the  game 
was  going  to  run  away  or  not,  that  they  were  pa- 
tient and  took  plenty  of  time.  All  this  was  just 
what  Hugh  had  told  him  about  hunting,  and  Jack  de- 
termined that  he  would  try  hard  to  remember  and 
always  to  act  on  it. 

The  sun  was  just  setting  as  they  rode  up  to  the 
house.  Two  of  the  men  could  be  seen  coming 
across  the  prairie,  driving  a  bunch  of  horses  before 
them,  and  Hugh  was  just  coming  down  to  the  cor- 
ral to  let  out  the  milk  cows. 

He  smiled  as  he  saw  the  meat  on  the  horses,  and 
called  out,  "  Well,  son,  you've  got  some  meat,  I 
see." 

"  Yes,  seh,"  said  John,  "  Jack  make  it  good  shoot. 
Good  shoot,  my  tellin'  you." 

"  You  killed  it,  did  you,  son  ?  Why,  that's  good. 
Where'd  ye  hit  it  ?  "  ' 

"  Good  shoot  my  tellin'  you,"  repeated  John. 
"  Plum  centre.  II T a  brist  le  cceur  deux  fois.  Two 
time." 

"  You  don't  say  !  Why,  son,  you're  goin'  to  make 
a  sure  enough  hunter  all  right.  Now,  let's  hang 
this  meat  up  on  the  pole,  where  the  flies  won't  bother 
it." 


JACK'S  FIRST  ELK  115 

They  took  the  meat  off  the  horses  at  the  foot  of  a 
tall  pole  that  stood  near  the  corner  of  the  house, 
and  by  means  of  a  pully  at  the  top  of  the  pole,  it 
was  hoisted  far  above  the  ground  where  it  would 
be  cool  and  dry,  and  out  of  the  way  of  the  flies. 

A  few  days  later  John  Monroe  packed  his  horses, 
and  started  on  to  Bear  River  to  visit  his  daughter. 
He  said  that  he  would  return  toward  the  end  of  the 
summer  and  see  them  again. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ANTELOPE  KIDS 

"  SON,  do  you  want  to  ride  down  to  the  lake 
with  me,"  said  Hugh  one  day  in  June,  as  they  sat  at 
dinner. 

"  Yes,  Hugh,  I'd  like  to  go.  Right  after  dinner  ?  " 
said  Jack. 

"  Yes,  if  your  uncle  don't  want  me,  we  might  as 
well  start  right  off.  You  get  your  gun  and  catch  up 
the  horses,  and  I'll  come  down  and  saddle  up  as 
soon  as  I  can." 

Jack  caught  the  horses  and  took  them  to  the 
barn,  where  he  found  Hugh  waiting,  and  in  a  few 
moments  they  were  on  their  way.  When  they  had 
nearly  reached  the  lake,  Hugh  turned  to  Jack  and 
said,  "  Now,  maybe  we'll  see  some  fun.  This  morn- 
ing when  I  was  in  the  pasture,  I  saw  an  old  doe 
antelope  down  on  the  flat  here,  and  I  reckon  she's 
got  kids  hidden  somewhere.  We  can  lie  behind  the 
hill  and  watch  for  them.  Maybe  we'll  have  com- 
pany too  ;  there's  likely  to  be  a  coyote  or  two 
about,  so  you  may  as  well  fetch  your  gun  with 
you." 

They  left  the  horses  in  a  little  hollow,  and  creep 
116 


ANTELOPE  KIDS  117 

ing  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  carefully  looked  over 
it.  At  first  they  could  see  nothing  living,  but  after 
a  moment  Hugh  said,  "Look  out!  keep  close! 
there's  a  coyote  coming  out  of  the  gulch  over 
there."  They  watched  the  cunning  animal  as  it 
trotted  out  into  the  flat  where  the  grass  was  up  to 
its  belly,  and  there  it  began  to  quarter  the  ground, 
just  like  a  hunting  dog,  yet  every  moment  or  two 
it  would  pause  and  look  up  toward  the  hills,  as  if 
it  were  afraid  of  something  that  was  coming.  What 
this  something  was  they  soon  saw,  for  presently  a 
doe  antelope  came  galloping  over  the  hills  toward 
the  flat,  and  when  she  saw  the  coyote  she  ran 
faster,  directly  toward  it.  As  soon  as  it  saw  the 
doe,  the  coyote  dropped  its  head  and  tail  and  started 
to  run  away,  at  first  slowly,  but,  as  the  antelope 
drew  nearer  to  it,  much  faster,  until  presently  it  was 
running  nearly  as  fast  as  the  doe.  Before  it  had 
crossed  the  flat  the  antelope  had  nearly  caught  it, 
and  now  the  coyote  was  running  as  fast  as  it  could, 
with  its  tail  tucked  between  its  legs,  like  a  frightened 
cur.  As  the  little  wolf  ran  up  to  the  hill  on  which 
they  were  lying,  the  antelope  caught  up  with  it,  and 
several  times  struck  it  with  her  hoof,  and  each  time 
she  did  so,  the  wolf  yelled  with  pain,  just  as  a  dog 
would  yell  when  struck  with  a  whip.  Wolf  and 
antelope  passed  close  by  the  watchers  and  soon 
disappeared  over  the  next  hill. 

Then  Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "  Look  out,  now !  that 
coyote  has  a  partner  somewhere  about,  and,  unless 
I  am  mistaken,  he  will  show  up  in  two  or  three 


H8    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

minutes."  Sure  enough,  when  they  turned  around 
and  looked  at  the  flat,  there  was  a  coyote  just 
beginning  to  search  through  the  grass,  as  the  other 
one  had  done.  It  was  evident  that  these  two 
wolves  were  working  together,  and  that  while  one 
led  the  doe  away  from  the  neighbourhood  of  her 
young  ones,  the  other  searched  to  try  to  find  out 
where  they  were  hidden.  However,  the  old  doe 
Beemed  to  be  pretty  wise  and  did  not  chase  the  first 
coyote  far;  so  that  the  one  left  on  the  ground  had 
hardly  time  to  begin  his  hunt  before  the  antelope 
made  her  appearance  again  on  the  flat,  and  drove 
him  off.  As  she  began  to  do  this,  Hugh  said  to 
Jack,  "  Now,  turn  around  and  keep  a  good  look-out 
for  the  other  coyote;  you  may  get  a  chance  to  kill 
him  as  he  comes  back."  They  had  not  been  watch- 
ing very  long  when  the  little  wolf  that  had  just  been 
chased  away  came  trotting  unconcernedly  around 
the  base  of  the  knoll,  only  a  short  distance  from 
them.  They  sat  quite  still  and  he  did  not  notice 
them,  but  went  on  until  he  reached  the  top  of  the 
rise  from  which  he  could  see  the  flat.  Here  he 
stopped  only  about  forty  yards  from  Jack,  and  a 
careful  shot  dropped  him  in  his  tracks. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  a  good  shot,  and  a 
good  job  too.  That  other  coyote  will  have  to  go 
now  and  hunt  up  another  partner.  I  reckon  we've 
saved  them  kids.  Maybe  if  we  lie  here  a  little  longer 
and  watch,  the  old  doe  will  go  up  to  her  young 
Mies,  and  we'll  see  where  they  are  hidden  ;  then,  if 
you  like,  we  can  catch  them  and  take  them  home," 


ANTELOPE  KIDS  119 

"  Let's  wait  and  see  if  we  can  find  them,5'  said  Jack; 
*  I'd  like  awfully  well  to  see  them  and  see  what  they 
look  like,  but  I  don't  want  to  take  them  away  from 
the  old  one ;  she's  had  trouble  enough  with  these 
coyotes ;  let's  leave  her  young  ones  with  her." 

"That  suits  me  to  a  T,"  said  Hugh.  "Let's 
move  down  a  little  bit  from  the  top  of  the  hill  and 
skin  this  coyote,  and  we  can  look  at  the  old  doe 
every  little  while,  and  if  she  isn't  bothered,  likely 
before  long  she  will  go  to  her  young  ones." 

They  skinned  the  wolf,  and  every  now  and  then 
either  Hugh  or  Jack  went  to  the  top  of  the  hill  and 
looked  over  at  the  antelope.  The  coyotes  bothered 
her  no  more  ;  she  fed  about  in  the  flat,  and  at  length 
went  up  on  a  little  side  hill  and  lay  down  for  an 
hour  or  two.  Then  she  rose  and  began  to  feed 
again,  and  after  wandering  about  in  rather  an  aim- 
less fashion  for  half  an  hour,  she  walked  over  to  a 
bare  hillside,  where  nothing  seemed  to  be  growing, 
and  in  a  moment  they  saw  two  tiny  kids  standing 
by  her  side. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  notice  well  where  those 
kids  are,  and  we'll  go  and  get  the  horses  and  ride 
over  to  them.  You  will  see  that  just  as  soon  as  we 
show  ourselves,  the  kids  will  disappear  and  the  old 
one  will  run  off.  You  won't  be  able  to  see  the  kids 
until  you're  right  on  top  of  them." 

Sure  enough,  when  they  rode  over  the  hills,  and 
the  old  doe  saw  them,  she  cantered  away  and  no 
young  ones  were  to  be  seen,  but  when  they  reached 
the  spot,  two  small  grey  objects  looking  at  a  little 


120    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

distance  like  stones,  lay  on  the  ground  there.  Jack 
dismounted  and  picked  one  up ;  its  legs  and  head 
hung  down  as  if  it  were  dead  ,•  it  made  no  move- 
ment  and  uttered  no  sound,  but  its  bright  little  eye 
was  full  and  round. 

"  That's  the  way  it  is  with  them,"  said  Hugh. 
"  Until  they  are  a  week  or  ten  days  old  they  act 
just  like  that.  I  expect  it's  born  in  them  to  act  like 
they  are  dead  until  their  mother  tells  them  it's  safe 
to  seem  to  be  alive." 

It  was  a  little  hard  for  Jack  to  leave  the  kids 
here.  They  were  such  queer-looking  little  beasts 
that  his  wish  to  possess  them  almost  overcame  the 
sympathy  he  had  felt  for  their  mother,  but  after 
what  he  had  said  to  Hugh  he  was  ashamed  to 
change ;  and  so,  rather  regretfully,  he  left  the  kids 
lying  there  on  the  hillside,  for  their  mother  to  find 
when  she  came  back. 

As  they  rode  toward  the  house,  talking  of  the 
animals  they  had  been  watching,  Jack  was  loud  in 
his  sympathy  for  the  antelope,  and  declared  that  if 
he  could  do  so,  he  would  kill  every  coyote  in  the 
country.  "  Well,  I  don't  know,  son,"  said  Hugh, 
"  Coyotes  are  mean  and  do  right  smart  of  mischief, 
but  they've  got  feelings,  just  like  folks.  Did  ye 
ever  think  of  that?" 

"  How  do  you  mean,  Hugh  ?  "     asked  Jack. 

"  Why,  I  mean  that  they've  got  to  eat  and 
drink,  and  sleep,  just  like  the  antelope,  or,  for 
the  matter  of  that,  just  like  us.  They've  got  little 
ones  to  look  out  for  and  feed,  and  I  make  no  doubt 


ANTELOPE  KIDS  121 

the  old  mother  coyote  thinks  just  as  much  of  hef 
young  ones  as  the  antelope  does  of  hers.  I  don't 
mean  to  say  that  I  like  coyotes;  they're  pesky 
critters,  and  often  I  get  mad  with  them  and  feel, 
like  you  do,  that  I'd  like  to  kill  'em  all ;  but  what  I 
say  is  that  it  ain't  no  more  cruel  for  a  coyote  to  kill 
an  antelope,  than  it  is  for  an  antelope  to  take  a  bite 
of  grass." 

"  I  never  thought  of  it  in  that  way,  Hugh,  but 
that  is  so.  But  you  can't  help  feeling  sorry  for  the 
little  kids  and  for  the  old  ones,  too." 

"  That's  all  right  enough,  but  what  I  say  is,  if  you 
are  going  to  feel  sorry  for  one  thing,  you've  got  to 
feel  sorry  for  all.  And  what's  more,  talking  about 
coyotes,  they're  so  almighty  smart,  that  you  can't 
help  admiring  them,  and  thinking  they  earn  all  they 
get." 

Talking  about  these  things,  they  rode  over  the 
low  hills  till  they  had  come  to  the  edge  of  the  valley 
leading  up  to  the  house.  Here  Hugh  checked  his 
horse  and  pointed  to  a  small  animal,  walking  about 
in  an  aimless  way  near  the  gully  through  which  the 
creek  flowed.  "  There's  a  badger,"  he  said.  "  Now,  if 
you  like,  we  can  get  down  into  the  creek  bed  and 
creep  up  close  to  him  and  watch  him  for  a  spell. 
What  do  you  say  ?  " 

"That'll  be  bully;  let's  do  it;  but  can  we  get 
close  enough  to  see  him  well  ?  " 

"  There  won't  be  any  trouble  about  that,  but  we'll 
have  to  go  back  a  little  ways,"  said  Hugh.  "  Come 
on." 


122    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

They  rode  back  a  short  distance,  and  around  a 
little  hill,  and  dismounting,  walked  down  into  the 
bed  of  the  stream.  The  banks  of  the  narrow  water, 
course  were  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  and  of  course 
hid  them  from  anything  on  the  level  of  the  valley. 
After  they  had  gone  some  little  distance,  Hugh 
signed  with  his  hand  to  Jack  to  wait,  and  slowly 
raising  his  head  above  the  bank,  looked  through  a 
bunch  of  grass  growing  on  its  edge.  After  a 
moment  he  motioned  Jack  to  come  up  beside  him, 
and  whispered  to  him,  "  He's  right  close,  not  twenty 
feet  away  ;  "  and  he  pointed.  Jack  looked  carefully 
over  the  bank  and  saw  a  queer  short-legged  grey 
animal  with  white  stripes  on  his  face,  walking  about 
and  smelling  at  some  little  piles  of  earth.  The  long 
hair  on  either  side  of  its  body  almost  swept  the 
ground,  its  face  had  an  expression  of  great  cunning, 
and  its  nose  was  long  and  pointed.  It  was  a  heavy, 
thickset  animal,  only  about  two  feet  long  and  very 
broad,  but  it  stepped  lightly  enough  from  place  to 
place,  snuffing  at  each  lump  of  earth  or  tuft  of 
grass  that  it  came  to,  not  as  if  it  were  very  much 
interested  in  it,  but  as  if  it  felt  that  it  would  not  do 
to  pass  by  anything  without  examining  it.  Some* 
times  it  would  scrape  away  a  little  dirt,  and  smell 
the  ground,  and  then  move  on.  Often  it  lifted  its 
head  high  and  sniffed  the  air,  moving  its  nose  about 
and  wrinkling  it,  as  if  to  catch  the  faintest  scent. 

Now  and  then  it  sat  up  on  its  haunches  and  looked 
about,  as  if  to  see  if  any  danger  were  near.  When 
it  did  this,  it  held  itself  much  as  Jack  had  seen  a 


ANTELOPE  KIDS  123 

woodchuck.  "  He  keeps  a  pretty  good  look-out, 
don't  he?"  whispered  Hugh. 

"  You  bet,"  said  Jack,  "  he  looks  as  if  he  knew 
pretty  well  how  to  take  care  of  himself.  How 
strong  he  seems  to  be,  and  what  a  sly,  cunning  face 
he  has." 

A  few  moments  later  the  badger  suddenly  sat  up 
very  straight,  with  his  fore  legs  hanging  down  by  his 
side,  and  looked  sharply  toward  a  hill  away  from 
the  house.  In  a  few  seconds  the  animal  dropped 
down  on  all  fours  and  galloped  away  toward  a 
near-by  hillside.  "  I  expect  he  hears  something 
coming,  and  he's  making  tracks  for  his  hole.  Ah, 
that's  what  it  is,"  said  Hugh,  and  he  pointed  to  the 
hill  toward  which  the  badger  had  looked.  Over  this 
hill  a  man  came  riding,  and  about  his  horse  were 
trotting  half  a  dozen  great,  gaunt  hounds.  One  of 
them  saw  the  badger,  and  instantly  the  whole  pack 
swept  down  the  hill  toward  it,  but  just  before 
the  leading  dog  overtook  it,  the  badger  disappeared, 
and  the  dogs  checked  themselves  and  stopped.  "  I 
expect  that's  the  Powell  kid,"  said  Hugh,  as  he 
climbed  up  the  bank,  followed  by  Jack.  "  He  has 
a  lot  o*  hounds,  and  catches  considerable  many 
coyotes." 

As  they  walked  back  toward  their  horses,  they 
met  the  rider,  a  boy  only  a  little  older  than  Jack, 
who  seemed  to  know  Hugh  very  well,  and  who 
shook  hands  with  Jack,  giving  him  a  hard  grip  that 
almost  hurt  him.  "  Well,  kid,"  said  Hugh,  "  did  ye 
get  any  coyotes  to-day  ?  "  "  Yes,  I  got  three,  and 


124    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

started  two  more,  but  they  got  so  big  a  start  on  me 
that  I  couldn't  catch  'em.  I  got  a  kitfox  too,  but 
the  dogs  tore  him  all  to  pieces.  Like  to  have  got 
that  badger  that  was  near  you,  but  he  holed  too 
quick." 

"  Better  ride  on  up  to  the  house  and  unsaddle, 
and  get  supper,  and  stop,"  said  Hugh.  "  It's  too 
late  for  ye  to  get  home  to-night." 

"  All  right,"  said  the  boy,  and  whistling  to 
his  dogs,  he  rode  on.  Hugh  and  Jack  soon  overtook 
him,  and  when  the  three  reached  the  barn,  the 
stranger's  horse  was  put  in  a  stall,  while  the  others 
were  turned  out.  At  the  house  young  Powell  was 
cordially  welcomed  by  Mr.  Sturgis,  and  soon  all 
were  seated  at  the  supper  table. 

That  evening  the  two  boys  had  a  long  talk,  and 
afterward  a  consultation  with  Hugh.  Then  Hugh 
went  to  Mr.  Sturgis  and  asked  him  if  he  was  willing 
to  have  Jack  and  himself  go  over  the  next  day  to 
the  Powell  ranch  for  two  or  three  days,  so  that  Jack 
might  have  a  chance  to  see  the  hounds  run  coyotes. 
Jack's  uncle  said  that  he  thought  it  a  very  good 
idea.  So  the  next  morning,  just  about  sunrise,  they 
set  out  on  the  thirty-mile  ride. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

JACK  KILLS  A  LION 

As  they  started  off  this  morning  Jack  felt  good ; 
he  had  been  promoted  ;  he  was  riding  a  new  horse. 
The  grey,  on  which  he  had  taken  his  first  lessons  in 
riding,  was  old  and  steady  and  slow  ;  very  good  to 
travel  over  the  prairie  on,  but  past  his  usefulness 
for  any  purpose  except  hunting  or  going  after  the 
saddle  horses.  So,  a  week  or  two  before,  Hugh  had 
caught  up  for  him  a  new  horse,  and  he  had  tried  it 
several  times.  It  was  a  brown,  seven  years  old,  per- 
fectly gentle,  yet  with  plenty  of  spirit.  Hugh  had 
ridden  it  a  good  deal,  and  told  him  that  it  was  one 
of  the  best  horses  at  the  ranch  ;  kind,  gentle,  very 
swift,  and,  better  than  all,  a  good  hunting  horse. 
He  had  said,  "You  don't  need  to  watch  the  Brown 
when  you're  riding  over  the  prairie,  going  anywhere, 
but  if  you  ever  start  him  after  a  bunch  of  elk  or  a 
band  of  buffalo,  look  out  for  him,  unless  you  want 
to  get  right  into  the  middle  of  them.  He  can  catch 
elk  too  easy,  and  is  faster  than  any  buffalo  cow  I 
ever  saw." 

Jack  wanted  a  good  name  for  the  horse.     He  did 

not  like  to  call  him  merely  Brown ;  he  wanted  a  name 

125 


126    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

that  would  mean  something.  Half  a  dozen  names 
had  been  suggested,  but  none  of  them  seemed  quite 
to  fit  the  horse.  At  last  he  decided  that  he  would 
call  the  animal  by  the  name  of  some  Indian  tribe. 
Blackfoot  seemed  a  pretty  good  name,  because  the 
horse's  feet  were  all  black,  but  after  thinking  it  over 
with  a  good  deal  of  care,  he  determined  to  call  the 
horse  Pawnee. 

This  morning  when  they  mounted  and  rode  away, 
young  Powell  was  loud  in  his  praise  of  Jack's  horse. 
He  said,  "  I'll  bet  he's  got  the  legs  of  any  of 
those  three  horses.  Mine  is  pretty  fast  and  keeps 
pretty  close  to  the  dogs  in  the  chase,  but  yours 
will  run  away  from  him  as  if  he  was  standing 
still." 

"That's  right,"  said  Hugh,  "he's  an  awful 
good  horse,  and  what's  more,  he's  just  as  kind  as 
he's  good.  You  can  get  off  him  to  hunt,  and  leave 
him,  and  you'll  feel  sure  when  you  come  back  he'll 
be  feeding  in  the  same  place.  If  you  fire  a  shot,  he 
puts  up  his  head  and  looks  at  you  with  his  ears 
pricked  up,  to  see  whether  you've  killed  or  not. 
Then,  after  you  have  butchered,  if  you  lead  him  up 
to  an  animal  to  put  the  meat  on  him,  he'll  snort 
and  curve  his  neck  and  look  like  he  was  terrible 
scared  ;  but  when  you  commence  to  lift  the  meat  to 
put  it  on  his  back,  he'll  kind  of  crouch  down  and  lean 
towards  you,  to  make  it  easier  for  you  to  get  it  on. 
You  can  shoot  off  him  and  he'll  never  move.  Some- 
times I've  thought  that  when  I  raised  the  gun  to  my 
shoulder  to  shoot  he  stopped  breathing  for  a  minute. 


JACK  KILLS  A  LION  12; 

I  know  he  always  kind  o'  spreads  his  legs  to  hold 
himself  steady.  You've  got  a  good  horse  now,  son, 
and  I'd  advise  you  to  hang  on  to  him  as  long  as 
you're  here  at  the  ranch." 

The  ride  down  the  valley  was  a  pleasant  one. 
The  blue  iris  stood  thick  in  the  damp  places.  The 
brilliant  red  and  yellow  flowers  of  the  cactus  dotted 
the  hillsides.  White  poppy  blossoms  swung  in  the 
wind,  and,  if  one  had  been  on  foot  the  tiny  blooms 
of  the  yellow  violets,  which  send  their  roots  so  far 
down  into  the  hard  dry  soil  of  the  prairie,  could  have 
been  seen  thickly  scattered  on  the  slopes.  It  was  a 
time,  too,  of  singing  birds.  The  clear,  sweet  whistle 
of  the  meadow-lark  came  from  the  hills  near-by,  and 
was  answered  from  other  farther  hills  in  a  faint  re- 
frain, which  sounded  like  an  echo.  The  little  finches 
of  the  prairie  rose  from  the  ground  high  in  air, 
and  then  descended  slowly  on  motionless  wings, 
singing  as  if  their  throats  would  burst.  From  far 
on  high  fell  the  tinkling  notes  of  the  unseen  prairie 
skylark  floating  above  them.  Little  ground  squirrels 
and  prairie  dogs  were  busy  everywhere,  but  as  the 
horsemen  and  troop  of  dogs  drew  near,  they  scat- 
tered to  their  holes,  and,  after  a  few  angry  barks  and 
squeaks,  disappeared  from  sight.  Now  and  then  as 
they  passed  over  some  swell  of  the  prairie  they 
startled  an  antelope  or  two  or  three,  which  ran  up 
on  the  neighbouring  hills  and  stood  there  stamping 
and  snorting.  The  dogs  would  look  at  them  eagerly 
yet  doubtfully,  and  would  perhaps  trot  a  little  way 
toward  them,  but  young  Powell  always  whistled 


128    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

them  back.  The  prairie  and  the  air  above  it  were 
full  of  pleasant  sights  and  sounds. 

Young  Powell  said  to  Jack,  "  The  dogs  had  some 
hard  runs  yesterday,  and  I  don't  want  them  to  be  chas- 
ing antelope  to-day,  and  so  far  from  home.  I  don't  run 
antelope  often,  anyhow,  though  I've  got  some  with 
these  dogs,  but  I  use  them  mainly  for  wolves  and 
coyotes  ;  and  it's  a  bad  thing  to  have  a  lot  of  dogs 
think  that  they  can  run  anything  that  gets  up  before 
them  on  the  prairie.  If  I  was  going  to  run  antelope, 
I'd  have  a  special  bunch  of  dogs  for  running  them, 
and  for  nothing  else." 

"Then  they've  caught  antelopes,  have  they?" 
asked  Jack.  "  It  hardly  seems  to  me  as  if  anything 
could  catch  an  antelope,  when  it's  really  running  as 
hard  as  it  can." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  Powell,  "  there's  lots  of 
difference  in  antelopes.  Some  of  them  can  run 
twice  as  fast  as  others.  I  almost  roped  an  old  doe 
once  in  a  fair  chase,  and  I  wasn't  riding  anything 
but  a  slow  cow  pony  at  that.  I  never  felt  quite 
sure  though  whether  I  could  have  caught  her  or  not, 
or  whether  she  was  just  fooling  me.  I  ran  her  and 
she  took  down  a  valley,  and  I  caught  up  with  her, 
and  got  so  close  that  I  was  just  getting  my  rope 
ready  to  throw,  when  she  ran  across  a  little  green 
place  where  the  grass  stood  pretty  high.  I  would 
not  have  tried  to  cross  it  if  I  hadn't  been  after 
her,  for  it  looked  kind  of  wet,  but  I  couldn't  stop, 
and  I  put  the  spurs  into  the  old  horse,  and  he 
jumped  right  into  the  middle  of  it  and  stayed  there, 


JACK  KILLS  A  LION  129 

and  I  kept  going  and  hit  the  hard  ground  on  the 
other  side.  When  I  got  up  and  caught  the  horse,  the 
antelope  was  out  of  sight.  Still,  I  know  mighty 
well  that  there's  a  big  difference  in  antelope.  You 
take  an  old  buck,  and  even  if  you  get  a  good  start 
on  him,  the  dogs  have  a  hard  time  to  get  up  to  him. 
You  take  an  old  doe,  or  a  yearling  buck,  and  it's  al- 
most always  caught  a  heap  easier.  You  see  those 
two  little  blue  dogs,  the  smooth  ones,  the  two  that  are 
ahead  ?  They're  the  fastest  dogs  I've  got.  I  always 
depend  on  them  to  stop  a  coyote  or  a  wolf.  If  they 
can  catch  him  and  throw  him  it's  a  mighty  short  time 
till  the  other  dogs  get  up,  and  then  they  all  pitch  in 
and  chew  him.  These  two  yellow,  rough-haired  dogs 
here,  the  biggest  ones,  they're  the  fighters.  They 
bring  up  the  tail  of  the  chase,  but  when  they  get  to 
the  wolf  they  don't  stop,  they  pitch  right  in.  If  it's 
a  coyote,  one  of  them  generally  gets  him  across  the 
chest  and  the  other  in  the  flank,  and  then  the  rest 
of  the  dogs  take  hold  wherever  they  can,  and  they 
all  pull  in  different  directions.  It  don't  take  no 
time  at  all  to  kill  a  coyote,  but  of  course  a  big  wolf 
is  different.  I've  had  three  dogs  killed  by  wolves, 
and  each  one  only  had  one  bite.  They're  terrible 
strong,  powerful  animals. 

"  I  want  to  show  you  twelve  pups  that  I've  got  at 
the  ranch.  They're  little  fellows  yet,  but  I  expect 
to  get  some  awful  good  dogs  out  of  them.  I  tell 
you  a  dog  don't  last  any  time  at  all  at  this  sort  of 
work.  Some  of  'em  get  cut  up  by  the  wolves,  and 
some  break  their  legs  or  sprain  their  shoulders,  run- 
9 


130    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

ning,  and  some  get  hurt  by  the  horses.  It's  a  pretty 
rough  life  on  a  dog;  but  while  they  last  they've 
an  awful  good  time."  Chatting  thus,  they  covered 
mile  after  mile  of  prairie.  Jack's  horse  stepped 
along  lightly  and  easily.  From  time  to  time  Hugh 
lit  his  pipe  and  smoked.  Powell  watched  his  dogs. 
The  sun  was  warm,  the  air  clear  and  pleasant,  and 
Jack  thought  that  he  had  never  enjoyed  a  morning 
more. 

Suddenly,  just  in  front  of  the  two  blue  hounds 
that  were  trotting  before  them,  a  jack-rabbit  bounced 
up  and  scurried  away  at  top  speed.  In  an  instant 
all  the  dogs  were  running  for  it,  and  Jack  and  young 
Powell  were  close  at  their  heels.  It  was  a  short  run. 
The  leading  blue  dog  pressed  the  rabbit  hard ;  he 
dodged  in  front  of  the  second  dog,  and  in  a  moment 
had  to  dodge  again,  which  threw  him  into  the  jaws 
of  the  first  and  he  had  run  his  last  race.  It  was 
short  but  exciting;  doubly  so  to  Jack  who  had 
never  seen  anything  of  the  sort.  Powell  jumped 
down  among  the  hounds  and  cuffed  and  scolded 
them,  while  he  took  from  them  the  fragments  of  the 
rabbit,  and  then  mounted,  and  they  all  went  on. 
A  little  later  the  dogs  all  broke  away  again  after  a 
badger  which  showed  himself  on  the  side  hill ;  but  he 
dodged  into  his  hole  before  they  reached  him,  and 
the  dogs  came  back,  looking  foolish.  Powell  now 
took  from  a  pocket  in  his  saddle  a  whip,  with  a 
handle  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  and  a  lash  of 
eight  or  ten  feet,  and  whenever  a  dog  pressed  for. 
ward  ahead  of  the  horses,  he  struck  at  it.  and  after 


THE   ANIMAL   LAUNCHED    ITSELF    FROM    ITS   PERCH    FULL  TOWARDS  JACK." 

—Page  fjr. 


JACK  KILLS  A  LION  131 

a  little  while  the  whole  pack  followed  obediently  at 
his  horse's  heels. 

It  was  long  past  noon  when  they  reached  some 
high  hills,  rough  and  scarred  with  broken  bad  lands, 
on  which  grew  a  few  stunted  pines  and  cedars.  They 
were  climbing  these  hills,  Jack  a  little  in  advance, 
when  he  saw  rise  from  a  shelf  in  the  rocks,  a  long, 
slim,  yellow  animal,  which  began  to  sneak  away  up 
a  ravine. 

"Oh,  Hugh,  what's  that?"  the  boy  cried;  and 
at  the  same  time  Powell  gave  a  yell,  which  started 
all  the  dogs  forward.  "  A  mountain  lion,"  Hugh 
called  back :  "  The  dogs  will  tree  him,  sure !  Look 
out  for  him  !  "  Jack  hardly  heard  the  words,  for  he 
was  pressing  forward  close  after  the  dogs,  not  think- 
ing of  the  rough  ground  over  which  he  was  riding, 
but  half  wild  with  the  excitement  of  the  chase. 
The  horses  climbed  the  steep  scarp  of  the  hills  at  a 
run,  and  in  a  moment  Jack  found  himself  galloping 
over  smooth,  bare,  yellow  soil,  fifty  yards  behind 
the  last  of  the  hounds,  while  the  two  blue  dogs 
seemed  but  a  few  feet  behind  the  lion.  In  a  moment 
more  the  beast  was  safe  among  the  branches  of  a 
cedar,  the  dogs  clustered  about  its  trunk,  leaping 
into  the  air  and  showing  the  greatest  excitement. 
When  he  was  almost  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  Jack 
drew  up  his  horse,  and  the  moment  it  stopped,  threw 
his  gun  to  his  shoulder  and  fired  full  into  the  chest 
of  the  lion,  which  stood  facing  him  snarling  and 
angrily  twitching  his  tail  this  way  and  that.  As 
the  gun  cracked,  the  animal  launched  itself  from  its 


132    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

perch  full  toward  Jack ;  and,  as  he  looked  up  at  it 
and  saw  it  flying  toward  him,  with  gleaming  teeth 
and  outstretched  paws,  his  heart  jumped  up  into  his 
throat.  It  looked  about  forty  feet  long.  He  never 
knew  whether  he  spurred  Pawnee  or  whether  the 
horse  started  of  its  own  accord,  but  it  made  three 
or  four  jumps,  and  when  Jack  looked  back,  there 
was  the  lion  on  the  ground  surrounded  by  all  the 
dogs,  which  were  pulling  and  tugging  at  it  viciously. 
The  beast  was  still,  and  Jack  rode  back  near  to  it, 
to  be  heartily  scolded  by  Hugh,  who  had  just  come 
up. 

"  Son,"  said  he,  "  you  done  a  fool  trick  that  time. 
If  you'd  been  on  any  other  horse  you  might  have 
been  badly  scratched.  If  you  wanted  to  shoot  at 
the  lion,  and  I  make  no  doubt  you  did,  you'd  ought 
to  have  stopped  further  off.  You'll  never  make  no 
sort  of  a  hunter  if  ye  don't  think.  It's  all  right  for  a 
man  to  take  risks  if  there's  anything  to  be  made  by 
taking  them,  but  a  man  who  takes  risks  just  because 
he  don't  know  no  better  is  a  fool.  What's  more,  if 
you  act  this  way,  you're  liable  to  make  a  fool  of  me. 
I'd  have  looked  nice,  wouldn't  I,  if  you'd  gone  back 
to  the  ranch  all  scratched  up.  Now,  of  course,"  he 
went  on  more  mildly,  "  I  know  you  ain't  anything 
but  a  boy,  and  you  can't  be  expected  to  have  a 
man's  sense,  but  I  want  you  to  get  sense  as  fast  as 
you  can,  and  sense  means  experience.  I'm  trying 
to  give  you  as  fast  as  I  can  the  sense  that  it's  took 
me  forty  years  to  learn.  Now,  let's  see  where  you 
hit  that  fellow.  I  expect  you  made  a  right  good 


JACK  KILLS  A  LION  133 

shot,  for  I  didn't  see  the  critter  stir  after  he  struck 
the  ground/' 

Meantime  young  Powell  had  driven  the  dogs  from 
the  lion,  and  they  had  all  stretched  themselves  out 
in  the  shade  of  a  cedar,  where  they  were  lying,  pant 
ing,  with  their  tongues  hanging  far  out  of  their 
mouths.  One  of  them,  Jack  noticed,  had  a  long 
bright  red  cut,  extending  nearly  from  shoulder  to 
hip,  from  which  the  blood  was  dripping  fast.  They 
turned  the  lion  over  and  found  the  bullet  hole  in 
the  middle  of  the  chest.  It  was  a  good  shot,  in- 
deed, and  the  animal's  wild  spring  out  of  the  tree 
was  his  expiring  effort.  He  was  a  very  large  animal, 
and  quite  old,  as  shown  by  the  condition  of  his 
teeth. 

"  Well,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  certainly  are  in 
the  biggest  kind  of  luck.  It's  seven  years  since  I've 
seen  a  lion  about  here,  and  they're  never  anyways 
common.  Of  course  we  wouldn't  have  got  this  fel- 
low if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  dogs ;  and  it's  great 
luck  for  you  who  have  only  been  out  a  month  or 
two  now,  to  have  had  such  a  chance  as  this.  You 
made  a  mighty  good  shot,  too,  and  when  you  take 
this  hide  back  east  you'll  sure  have  something  to 
talk  about.  I  expect,  though,  your  Ma  wouldn't 
have  been  very  happy  if  she'd  been  here  and  seen 
that  lion  come  sailing  out  of  that  tree  after  you." 

When  they  looked  at  the  wounded  hound  they 
found  that  the  long  cut  in  its  skin  was  much  less 
serious  than  it  seemed  at  first ;  it  was  hardly  more 
than  a  scratch  made  by  a  last  convulsive  kick  by 


134    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  lion,  and,  while  it  had  cut  the  skin,  and  would 
leave  a  scar,  it  did  not  really  injure  the  dog.  They 
'skinned  the  lion,  leaving  the  claws  on  the  hide,  and 
rolled  up  the  skin,  tying  it  behind  Jack's  saddle,  and 
then  started  on  their  way. 

The  sun  was  low  in  the  west  when  they  came  in 
.sight  of  the  Powell  ranch.  They  rode  up  to  the 
t>arn  and  began  to  unsaddle,  while  the  dogs  went 
•straight  to  the  house.  Before  they  had  stabled  the 
horses  they  heard  a  clear  voice  calling,  "  Why, 
Charley,  what's  the  matter  with  Blue  Dan  ?  He's 
all  cut  up."  And  when  they  reached  the  door  of 
the  house  they  saw  Mrs.  Powell  and  Charley's  sister, 
Bess,  a  little  girl  of  thirteen,  bathing  the  wounded 
dog,  which  seemed  proud  of  the  attention  he  was 
^receiving.  Hugh  and  Jack  were  cordially  welcomed 
*by  Mrs.  Powell,  and  later  by  her  husband,  when  he 
•came  in  from  riding  ;  and  the  story  of  the  killing  of 
the  lion  had  to  be  told  twice  over.  Every  one  con- 
gratulated Jack  on  his  good  fortune,  and  it  appeared 
that  this  was  the  first  time  the  dogs  had  ever  seen 
a  lion.  "  They  have  killed  plenty  of  wolves,  foxes, 
:and  coyotes,"  said  Mr.  Powell,  "  and  two  or  three 
-wolverenes,  and  of  course  a  few  bob  cats,  but  I  think 
they  never  chased  a  lion  before." 

After  supper  Charley  took  Jack  out,  and  after  con- 
siderable whistling,  succeeded  in  bringing  up  to  the 
!house  two  tame  coyotes,  pets  of  which  Charley  was 
very  proud.  "  We  dug  them  out  of  a  hole  in  the 
'bank  of  a  gulch  a  couple  of  miles  from  here,"  he  told 
Jack.  "  There  were  three  of  them,  and  they  were 


JACK  KILLS  A  LION  135 

so  small  that  their  eyes  weren't  open  yet.  I  had  to 
kill  one,  for  it  took  to  killing  chickens.  I  sort  of 
hated  to  do  it,  but  I  knew  it  was  no  use  to  try  to 
keep  him  and  hens  both,  and  I  was  afraid  he  would 
teach  the  other  two  his  tricks,  so  I  shot  him.  These 
two  fellows  are  all  right.  There's  only  one  thing 
they  do  that  makes  me  mad.  Sometimes  they 
wander  away  off  onto  the  prairie,  hunting  for  them- 
selves ;  and  two  or  three  times  I  have  gone  after 
them  with  the  dogs,  thinking  that  they  were  wild 
coyotes.  They  will  run  and  run  as  hard  as  they 
know  how,  and  then,  when  the  dogs  are  just  about 
catching  up  to  them,  they'll  flop  over  on  their  backs 
and  lie  there  with  their  legs  in  the  air  until  the  dogs 
come  up  to  them.  Of  course  when  the  dogs  get  up 
to  them  and  smell  them,  they  know  them,  and 
won't  touch  them.  Then  the  coyotes  get  up  and 
play  around  and  wag  their  tails  and  jump  about, 
like  they'd  been  doing  something  almighty  smart. 
In  that  way  they  just  have  fun  with  us." 

When  bed-time  came  that  night,  Jack  was  ready 
for  it.  His  thirty-mile  ride  and  the  excitement  of 
the  day  had  made  him  very  weary. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS 

AT  breakfast  next  morning  Mr.  Powell  said,  "  1 
suppose  you  boys  will  go  out  with  the  dogs  to-day, 
and  I  wish  you  would  go  over  east  to  where  the 
blue  stallion's  bunch  ranges.  There's  two  yearlings 
been  killed  since  I  was  over  there  last,  and  I  believe 
it's  wolves  that  done  it.  If  them  worthless  dogs  of 
yours  would  kill  a  few  wolves  instead  of  all  these 
coyotes  they'd  come  nearer  earning  their  keep  than 
they  do." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Charley,  "  I  don't 
think  they've  done  so  bad.  Seven  wolves  since 
Christmas  is  pretty  good,  I  think ;  and  the  coyotes 
does  a  heap  of  mischief,  and  are  sure  worth  kill- 
ing." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  his  father,  "  do  the  best  you 
can  to  get  these  wolves.  It's  all  right  to  kill  the 
coyotes,  but  one  wolf  is  worse  than  ten  of  them 
little  fellows." 

"  Well,  what  time  are  you  boys  going  to  start 
out,'  said  Hugh.  "  I  expect  you  won't  want  to 
leave  here  till  after  dinner.  I  was  thinking  I'd  go 
with  you,  but  the  first  thing  I  want  to  do  is  to  stretch 
that  lion's  skin,  and  I  expect  I've  got  to  set  and  watch 
136 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       137 

it  till  it  begins  to  get  dry,  or  else  them  dogs  of  yourg 
will  be  chewing  and  tearing  it." 

"  Oh,"  said  Charley,  "  we'll  have  plenty  of  time 
to  get  over  to  the  blue  stallion's  range  if  we  start 
after  dinner,  and  of  course  it  might  be  such  a  thing 
as  we'd  run  onto  one  of  them  wolves,  if  they  are 
there.  Did  you  see  any  tracks,  father  r  or  was  it 
just  the  way  the  colts  were  killed  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  his  father,  "  I  didn't  have  no  time  to 
hunt  around  for  sign,  but  it  wan't  nothing  but 
wolves  that  killed  them  yearlings.  If  they'd  only 
been  one  of  them,  he  might  have  got  out  away  from 
the  bunch  and  been  cut  off  and  killed  by  coyotes, 
but  that  wouldn't  happen  twice  in  a  few  days.  It's 
wolves,  I  tell  you,  and  the  chances  are  they've  got 
young  ones  somewheres  not  so  very  far  off.  There's 
something  that  'ud  make  it  worth  your  while  to 
hunt  'em.  You  might  get  a  nest  of  young  pups." 

"  Great  Scott ! "  said  Jack,  "  that  would  be  fine." 
While  Hugh  added,  "There's  a  chance  for  you, 
Charley,  to  get  up  the  greatest  pack  of  wolf-dogs 
there  ever  was  on  earth.  Get  a  lot  of  wolf  pups, 
tame  'em  and  train  'em  to  catch  and  kill  the  wild 
wolves." 

After  breakfast  Charley  took  Jack  down  to  the 
barn  and  showed  him  two  litters  of  greyhound  pup- 
pies, both  very  small  now,  but  likely  to  be  large 
enough  next  spring,  Charley  said,  to  be  used  with 
the  old  dogs.  They  were  queer,  blunt-nosed,  thick- 
legged  little  beasts,  which  waddled  about  in  most 
clumsy  fashion. 


138    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

From  there  the  boys  went  down  to  the  hen- 
house, where,  with  great  pride,  Charley  exhibited 
his  chickens  and  some  pigeons — the  only  ones  with- 
in  thirty  miles.  He  complained  that  the  hawks 
killed  the  pigeons  if  they  ventured  far  from  home, 
but  said  that  from  repeated  frights,  the  birds  were 
learning  to  keep  closer  about  the  building. 

When  they  reached  the  house  again,  they  found 
Hugh  busy  pegging  out  the  lion's  skin.  He  had 
skinned  out  the  head,  cut  off  every  bit  of  flesh  and 
fat  from  the  hide,  and  pierced  a  number  of  small 
holes  along  its  margin,  and  was  now  busy  with 
a  lot  of  sharp  pointed  wooden  pegs,  stretching  the 
skin  on  the  grass,  flesh  side  up,  so  that  it  would  dry 
and  be  preserved.  This  was  new  work  to  Jack,  and 
he  watched  it  closely  and  asked  a  number  of  ques- 
tions about  it. 

"You  see,"  said  Hugh  in  reply,  "  if  the  hide  ain't 
stretched  and  dried,  it  ain't  no  good.  Some  folks 
just  take  and  nail  up  a  hide  any  way  at  all  against 
the  side  of  the  house,  and  of  course  it  will  dry  that 
way,  but  it  don't  dry  smooth,  and  it's  apt  to  get 
twisted  and  to  be  no  account.  If  I  take  in  two 
hides,  one  dried  this  way,  and  one  dried  on  the  side 
of  a  house,  and  try  to  sell  them  to  a  dealer,  he'll 
give  me  more  for  the  one  that  is  smooth  and  square 
than  he  will  for  one  that  is  rough  and  crumpled 
and  pulled  to  one  side.  After  you  know  how,  it 
ain't  much  more  trouble  to  do  the  thing  right  than 
it  is  to  do  it  wrong,  so  I  think  it  pays  better  to  do 
it  right.  There's  lots  to  drying  a  hide  that  a  good 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       139- 

many  people  don't  know.  Now,  a  thin  hide,  like 
this  one  here,  glazes  over  quick,  and  don't  take  no* 
time  at  all  to  dry,  except  maybe  the  lips,  the  feet,, 
and  the  tail,  but  if  I  had  a  bear  hide,  or  a  beefs 
hide,  I  wouldn't  stretch  it  out  here  in  the  hot  sun 
to  dry,  or  if  I  did,  I'd  build  some  sort  of  a  shade 
over  it,  so  that  it  would  dry  slowly.  You  take  them 
hides  that's  right  thick,  and  they're  awful  liable 
to  burn  if  the  sun's  right  hot.  Now  you  take  it 
fcrhen  they  was  beaver  in  the  country ;  no  man  ever 
thought  of  putting  his  fur  out  in  the  sun  to  dry. 
He  hung  his  pelts  up  in  the  brush  or  in  trees  in  the 
shade,  and  let  the  wind  do  the  drying  for  him,  and 
not  the  sun.  There,"  he  continued,  as  he  pushed 
in  his  last  peg  to  hold  the  tail  straight,  "  Now,  in 
an  hour  or  two  that  hide  will  be  set,  so  it'll  hold  its 
shape,  and  then  you  can  take  it  up  and  hang  it  up 
in  the  barn.  Now  I'm  going  over  to  the  creek  to 
clean  the  meat  off  this  skull.  It's  a  big  one,  and  you 
might  as  well  take  it  home  with  you,  'long  with 
the  hide." 

The  work  of  cutting  the  meat  from  the  skull,  and 
of  removing  the  brain,  by  breaking  it  up  with  a  stick, 
did  not  take  very  long,  but  while  it  lasted  Jack  and 
Charley  were  much  interested  in  watching  the  shoals 
of  tiny  fish  which  gathered  in  the  stream,  just  below 
where  Hugh  was  working,  and  fed  on  and  fought 
over  the  fragments  of  brain  and  meat  which  floated 
down  to  them. 

"  Where  in  time  did  these  fish  all  come  from, 
Hugh  ?  "  asked  Charley.  "  I  never  saw  any  fish  in 


140    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  creek  before.  It  seems  like  they  ought  to  be 
big  ones  here  too.  These  little  fellers  are  bound  to 
grow  up,  I  expect." 

"  I  guess  not,"  said  Hugh.  "  I  guess  these  are 
the  little  kind  that  don't  never  grow  no  bigger.  You 
take  these  little  chickadees  or  these  little  brown 
ground  birds ;  you  never  heard  of  them  growing  as 
big  as  an  eagle  or  goose,  did  you  ?  I  expect  likely 
there's  a  good  many  different  sorts  of  fishes,  just 
like  there's  a  good  many  sorts  of  birds  and  animals, 
and  each  sort  has  its  own  size  that  it  grows  up  to 
be,  and  it  don't  grow  no  bigger.  These  little  fel- 
lows  that  you  see  here  have  come  from  a  long  way 
down  the  creek.  You  see,  the  water  carries  down 
the  smell  of  the  meat  and  the  blood,  and  these  fish 
follow  up  the  trail  through  the  water,  just  the  same 
as  a  dog  or  a  coyote  will  follow  your  trail  over  the 
prairie." 

*•  Yes,  I  know  that's  so,  Hugh,"  said  Jack.  "  I've 
seen  something  just  like  this,  fishing  for  bluefish, 
down  in  Great  South  Bay." 

"  What's  Great  South  Bay,  and  where's  it  at?" 
said  Charley. 

"  Why,  it's  on  the  south  shore  of  Long  Island, 
and  it  opens  out  into  the  ocean.  If  you  could  see 
far  enough,  and  the  world  wasn't  round,  you  could 
look  across  from  there  to  Europe." 

"Jerusalem,  down  at  the  edge  of  the  salt  water!** 
murmured  Hugh. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  I've  been  down  there  fishing. 
They  anchor  the  boat  somewhere  near  the  chan- 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       141 

riel  and  then  chop  up  a  lot  of  bunkers,  that's  a 
very  oily  fish,  you  know,  and  then  they  throw  this 
chopped-up  fish  overboard,  a  little  at  a  time,  and 
it  floats  down  with  the  tide  and  makes  a  long  slick 
on  the  water.  It  looks  like  a  long,  shiny  ribbon. 
Well,  the  bluefish  swimming  around  strike  this 
slick,  and  follow  it  up  until  they  come  near  to  the 
boat,  where  the  fishermen  have  their  lines  out  with 
pieces  of  bunker  on  the  hooks,  then  the  fun  begins. 
I  have  seen  'em  catch  bluefish  that  were  longer 
than  my  rifle  barrel." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Hugh ;  "  I  expect  them  fish  is 
mighty  good  eating,  too.  I'd  like  to  catch  one, 
but  what  I'd  like  better  would  be  to  stand  on  the 
shore  there,  and  look  out  over  that  big  water  and 
maybe  see  the  ships  go  sailing  by." 

After  a  last  scrape  and  a  last  shake  of  the  now 
partly  cleaned  skull,  Hugh  turned  to  Charley  and 
said,  "  Kid,  have  ye  got  any  ant-hills  round  here, 
where  I  can  put  this  skull  for  awhile?  I'd  like  to 
get  them  ants  to  finish  up  this  job  for  me,  but  I 
don't  want  to  put  the  skull  where  the  dogs  or  the 
coyotes  or  the  badgers  will  get  hold  of  it  and  pack 
it  off." 

" There's  plenty  of  ant-hills,**  said  Charley,  "on 
the  side  hill  just  up  the  creek,  and  I  don't  think 
nothing  will  touch  the  skull  if  you  put  it  there. 
Coyotes  and  badgers  don't  come  round  the  house 
much  and  the  dogs  won't  be  likely  to  get  up  there 
on  the  hill." 

"We'll  chance  it,  I  guess,  anyhow,"  said  Hugh  ; 


i42    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  they  walked  over  to  the  hillside  and  half  buried 
the  skull  in  one  of  the  largest  and  busiest  of  the  ant- 
hills. After  waiting  a  few  moments,  they  saw  that 
the  new  supply  of  food  had  been  discovered  and 
was  being  swarmed  over  by  the  eager  ants,  and  then 
returning  to  the  house,  they  found  dinner  was 
ready. 

After  dinner  they  saddled  up  and  rode  east  over 
the  prairie,  to  the  range  where  the  blue  stallion  held 
his  bunch  of  horses.  Nothing  was  seen  on  the  way, 
for,  as  Charley  said,  the  coyotes  were  pretty  well 
cleared  out  immediately  about  the  ranch.  They 
had  gone  perhaps  six  miles,  when  a  sound  like  the 
weak  bark  of  a  dog  was  heard  from  a  near-by  hillside, 
which  Charley  and  Hugh  both  thought  was  a  coyote 
barking.  They  galloped  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound  and  when  they  topped  the  rise  a  little  wolf 
was  seen  making  off,  more  than  half  a  mile  away. 
It  took  a  minute  or  two  for  the  dogs  to  view  him, 
but  presently  one  of  them  saw  him  and  started,  and 
in  an  instant  afterward  the  whole  pack  were  strung 
out,  closely  followed  by  the  riders.  The  speed  of 
Pawnee  gave  Jack  a  great  advantage  over  his  com- 
panions, and  he  was  soon  but  a  short  distance  behind 
the  heavier  and  slower  dogs.  Presently  he  had 
forged  up  alongside  of  them,  and  at  length  had 
passed  all  the  hounds  except  the  two  blue  ones 
The  coyote  had  not  run  straight  away,  but  had  bent 
his  course  a  little  to  the  north,  and  dogs  and  horses, 
taking  advantage  of  this  turn,  had  cut  off  the  corner 
and  made  a  decided  gain  on  him.  Slowly  but  stead- 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       143 

ily  the  blue  dogs  crept  up ;  both  were  running  at 
about  the  same  rate  of  speed,  yet  one  kept  three  or 
four  lengths  behind  the  other,  but  both  were  gaining 
on  the  wolf.  As  they  passed  over  a  little  swell  in 
the  prairie  the  leading  dog  was  only  a  yard  behind 
the  prey,  and  just  after  Jack  had  come  in  sight  of 
them  again,  both  dogs  put  on  a  burst  of  speed,  and 
the  leading  one,  catching  the  coyote  by  the  ham, 
tossed  his  head,  and  coyote  and  dog  rolled  over  to- 
gether. Almost  at  the  same  moment  the  second 
hound  had  the  wolf  by  the  throat,  and,  as  Jack 
checked  his  horse,  the  big  yellow  dogs  swept  by 
him,  and  in  an  instant  each  had  his  hold  and  each 
stood  braced  back,  pulling  against  the  other  five. 
A  moment  later  Charley  came  up,  and  then  Hugh, 
and  all  dismounted,  while  Charley  made  the  hounds 
loose  their  hold,  and  horses  and  dogs  stood  about 
with  lowered  heads  and  heaving  flanks. 

"  That  fellow  got  too  much  of  a  start  on  us,"  said 
Charley,  "  I  didn't  think  they'd  catch  him,  and  they 
wouldn't  have  done  it  either  if  he  had  not  been  a 
young  one.  He  didn't  really  think  they  were  after 
him  until  they'd  come  pretty  close,  and  then  it  was 
too  late  for  him  to  get  away.  His  hide  isn't  very 
badly  torn.  I  guess  I'll  take  it  along  with  me,  and 
I'll  get  the  bounty,  even  if  I  can't  sell  the  hide." 
The  time  taken  in  skinning  the  wolf  gave  all  the 
animals  an  opportunity  to  get  their  wind  again,  and 
when  Charley  had  tied  the  hide  on  behind  his  saddle, 
all  mounted  and  started  on.  Jack  was  full  of  enthu- 
siasm for  this  sport.  Never  before  had  he  enjoyed 


144    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

such  a  fast  ride,  or  had  before  him  something  that 
he  felt  he  must  overtake,  or  felt  so  strong  a  sym- 
pathy with  the  pursuers  as  on  this  afternoon. 

"  Yes,"  said  Charley,  "  It's  lots  of  fun,  but  you 
want  to  see  them  when  they  get  a  good  start  on  a 
wolf.  Then,  besides  the  fun  of  the  chase,  there's 
the  excitement  of  the  fight  that's  sure  to  take  place 
at  the  end  of  the  chase.  We  ran  down  an  old  wolf 
last  fall  that  killed  one  of  the  dogs,  crippled  another, 
and  beat  off  the  whole  pack.  He  ran  again  when 
we  came  up,  but  they  stopped  him,  and  we  finally 
had  to  kill  him  with  a  six-shooter.  The  dogs  would 
not  tackle  him  he  was  so  big  and  strong." 

"  I  never  saw  anything  like  it,"  said  Jack,  "  when 
that  small  hound,  that  seemed  not  to  weigh  half  as 
much  as  the  coyote,  threw  up  his  head,  the  coyote 
just  turned  a  summersault  and  before  I  could  think 
what  was  going  to  happen  next,  the  other  dog  had 
him  by  the  neck,  and  it  seemed  to  be  all  over." 

They  had  not  finished  exchanging  opinions  about 
this  chase,  when,  as  they  rode  down  into  a  narrow 
gully,  a  great  animal  jumped  up  from  the  shade  of 
a  little  bush,  dashed  across  a  ravine  and  up  the  other 
side,  while  yells  from  Charley  and  Hugh  pro- 
claimed this  a  wolf  ;  but  the  dogs  had  disappeared 
over  the  edge  of  the  ravine  before  the  men  got  their 
horses  started  into  a  run.  For  a  long  way  the  prairie 
before  them  was  smooth  and  level,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  the  whole  chase  must  take  place  before  their 
eyes.  The  dogs  were  running  bunched  up  close  at 
the  heels  of  the  wolf,  the  two  blue  dogs  being  only 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       145 

a  little  in  the  lead.  Pawnee  was  running  free,  and 
nearly  as  fast  as  he  could,  for  Jack  never  thought 
of  checking  him,  or  even  of  holding  him  up.  The 
wolf  seemed  to  be  less  swift  than  the  coyote  had 
been,  and  ran  a  little  heavily,  and  the  dogs  were 
manifestly  gaining  on  him,  while  Jack  was  gaining 
on  the  dogs.  Very  slowly  but  very  steadily  the 
pack,  still  keeping  quite  close  together,  crept  up  to 
the  wolf,  and  at  last  the  two  blue  dogs,  this  time 
side  by  side,  forged  up  to  his  quarters.  At  the  same 
moment,  as  it  seemed,  they  reached  out,  and  each 
catching  him  by  a  ham,  gave  him  a  little  twitch  and 
he  rolled  over,  and  before  he  could  gain  his  feet 
was  covered  by  the  dogs.  In  a  moment  Jack  was 
beside  them,  and,  putting  a  strong  pull  on  Pawnee, 
the  horse  plunged  his  forefeet  into  the  ground,  half 
threw  himself  on  his  haunches  to  stop,  and  Jack,  un- 
prepared for  the  sudden  halt,  flew  out  of  the  saddle, 
turned  a  summersault  and  came  down  heavily  on 
his  back,  close  to  the  struggling  mass  of  dogs  and 
wolf.  He  was  a  good  deal  jarred,  but  jumped  to  his 
feet  and  retreated  a  few  yards.  The  struggle  still 
continued,  but  in  a  moment  more  it  was  over,  and 
the  dogs  had  the  wolf  stretched  out  and  were  pulling 
against  each  other  as  he  had  seen  them  pull  at  the 
coyote.  But  there  was  one  dog  lying  on  the  ground, 
breathing  hard  and  bleeding  freely  from  a  horrible 
gash  in  his  side.  Charley  and  Hugh  now  came  up, 
and  the  former,  with  his  pistol  in  hand,  stepped  up 
to  the  dogs.  The  wolf  was  quite  dead,  but  though 

he  proved  to  be  a  young  one  he  had  badly  damaged 
10 


146    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  pack  before  he  died.  Two  or  three  of  the  dogs 
had  bad  cuts,  and  the  bite  that  had  disabled  one  of 
the  yellow  hounds  had  crushed  two  ribs  and  had 
probably  entered  the  lungs,  for  the  dog  was  bleeding 
at  the  mouth  and  nose,  as  an  animal  does  that  has 
been  shot  through  the  lungs.  Charley  felt  badly 
over  the  injury  to  his  pets,  and  declared  that  they 
could  go  no  further  that  day,  but  that  he  must  take 
the  pack  back  to  the  ranch,  and  must  carry  the 
crippled  dog  on  his  horse.  They  bound  up  its 
wounds  with  such  rough  surgery  as  was  possible, 
and  then,  placing  it  across  Charley's  horse,  started 
slowly  for  the  ranch. 

They  had  gone  but  a  mile  or  two  when,  as  they 
were  riding  along,  they  noticed  a  faint  odour  of 
decaying  meat.  Hugh  left  them  here,  and  telling 
them  that  he  would  soon  rejoin  them,  rode  away 
against  the  wind.  Half  or  three  quarters  of  an  hour 
later  he  overtook  them.  For  a  little  while  he  was 
busy  filling  and  lighting  his  pipe,  and  then  he 
turned  to  Charley  and  said,  "  Well,  kid,  if  you 
want  to  start  that  new  pack  of  hounds,  I  guess  we 
can  do  it  to-morrow.  I  have  found  the  place  where 
the  old  wolf  has  got  her  puppies,  and,  unless  she 
moves  them  to-night,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  dig 
them  out  to-morrow.  I  expect  you'll  all  be  glad  to 
use  a  pick  and  shovel  doing  this,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  to  save  your  stock." 

"Why,  Hugh/'  said  Jack,  "how  in  the  world  did 
you  find  where  they  were  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said   Hugh,  "  you  all  noticed  that  smell 


WOLVES  AND  WOLF-HOUNDS       147 

of  rotten  meat  back  there  a  ways.  I  thought  maybe 
it  might  come  from  the  wolf's  hole,  or  of  course  it 
might  come  from  some  animal  that  had  died.  I 
followed  it  up  and  it  grew  stronger  and  stronger, 
and  at  last  I  came  to  the  edge  of  a  ravine,  where  I 
could  see  the  wolf 's  hole,  and,  from  the  carrion  about 
It,  I  saw  that  they  were  still  living  there.  To- 
morrow, if  Powell  feels  like  it,  we'll  go  up  there  with 
the  waggon  and  maybe  get  the  pups." 

"  You  bet,  father'll  feel  like  it,"  said  Charley. 
"  He'll  do  most  anything  to  get  rid  of  these  wolves." 

When  they  reached  the  ranch,  the  first  thing  to 
be  done  was  to  care  for  the  wounded  dogs.  Two 
of  them  had  to  have  stitches  taken  to  close  their 
cuts,  while  the  one  most  badly  hurt  had  his  wound 
washed  out,  the  fragments  of  shattered  bone  re. 
moved,  and  was  then  placed  so  that  he  could  not 
move.  There  seemed  a  fair  prospect  of  his  recovery. 

At  supper  that  night  Mr.  Powell  was  told  of  the 
discovery  of  the  wolf's  den,  and  gladly  promised 
that  he  would  go  over  there  with  the  waggon  and 
plenty  of  tools,  in  the  hope  that  the  young  wolves 
might  be  captured  or  destroyed. 


CHAPTER  XV 

DIGGING  OUT  A  WOLF'S  DEN 

As  all  hands  were  down  at  the  barn  next  morning, 
the  two  men  hitching  up  the  team  and  the  boys 
saddling  their  horses,  Hugh  said,  "  I  guess  I'll  ride 
in  the  waggon  this  morning  and  let  old  Baldy  have  a 
rest.  I'm  getting  to  be  too  old  to  race  round  over 
the  prairie  the  way  I've  been  doing  the  last  two 
days.  But  I  want  you  to  look  out  for  yourself 
to-day,  son.  I  don't  want  anything  bad  to  happen 
to  you  while  we're  off  here  away  from  the  ranch. 
You  seem  to  have  a  natural  way  of  getting  yourself 
into  trouble.  Two  days  ago  you  came  pretty  near 
being  clawed  by  a  lion,  and  yesterday  you  took  a 
sort  of  a  running  jump  into  a  scuffle  between  dogs 
and  a  wolf.  You've  got  to  look  out  for  yourself  and 
try  to  keep  a  head  on  your  shoulders  and  think 
where  you're  going.  When  I  saw  you  fly  out  of  the 
saddle  yesterday  I  could  not  help  wondering  whether 
you'd  kill  two  or  three  dogs  when  you  came  down, 
or  yourself.  Do  you  feel  pretty  sore  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Well,"   said   Jack,  "  my   shoulders   are   pretty 
lame,  and  my  head  aches  a  little,  but  I  think  I'll  be 
all  right  after  I've  ridden  a  little  way." 
uS 


DIGGING  OUT  A  WOLF'S  DEN       149 

They  started  off  all  together,  the  boys  riding 
soberly  just  ahead  of  the  waggon.  The  prairie  was 
rough  with  sage-brush  and  the  team  could  only  ad- 
vance  at  a  walk  ;  so  it  took  them  nearly  two  hours 
to  get  to  the  ravine  where  the  wolfs  hole  was.  If 
Jack  had  been  alone  he  would  not  have  been  able  to 
find  the  place,  but  Charley  seemed  to  know  just 
where  it  was,  and  when  Jack  spoke  to  him  about  this 
he  said,  "  Oh,  it's  easy  enough.  You  see,  I  am  rid- 
ing all  the  time,  and  I  know  pretty  nearly  every  hill 
and  ravine  within  ten  miles  of  the  ranch,  in  any 
direction.  Then,  of  course,  there's  the  big  high  hills 
for  landmarks,  and  even  if  I  don't  know  the  precise 
place  that  I  am  going  to  I  can  always  ride  toward 
the  hill  that  I  know  lies  beyond  it.  Then  of  course, 
the  sun  always  gives  a  fellow  his  direction,  and  often 
the  wind  too,  though  you  can't  depend  on  that,  for 
sometimes  the  hills  make  eddies,  and  the  wind 
seems  to  change  its  direction." 

"  Why  did  you  leave  all  the  dogs  at  home  ?  "  said 
Jack,  "  I  should  think  they  might  be  useful  in  case 
you  find  the  old  wolf  near  the  den." 

"  We  ain't  likely  to  do  that,"  said  Charley.  "  She's 
fed  her  puppies  early  this  morning,  and  is  probably 
lying  up  on  some  hill,  quite  a  little  way  from  the 
hole,  and  will  see  us  and  sneak  off  long  before  we 
get  to  it.  Besides  that,  the  dogs  have  had  hard 
work  for  the  last  three  or  four  days,  and  some  of 
them  are  cut  up  too  badly  to  take  out,  and  even 
those  that  are  well  are  likely  to  get  tender-footed 
if  they  are  run  too  often." 


ISO    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

When  they  reached  the  ravine  where  the  hole 
was,  they  drove  down  into  it  and  stopped  the  team 
on  the  windward  side.  Hugh  went  up  to  look  at 
the  place,  and  returning,  announced  that  he  believed 
the  pups  were  still  there.  They  picketed  out  the 
horses  where  they  could  feed,  and  then  carried  up 
near  to  the  hole  the  picks  and  spades,  and  a  slatted 
box  that  had  been  prepared  to  hold  the  puppies,  if 
they  caught  them,  some  sacks  and  a  lot  of  leather 
strings,  and  a  long  slim  pole  that  Hugh  had  cut  that 
morning. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  am  going  to  try  and  find 
the  direction  this  hole  takes,  and  while  I  am  doing 
that  it  would  be  good  for  you  boys  to  cover  up  this 


mess." 


The  mouth  of  the  hole  was  foul  with  decaying 
meat,  old  bones,  parts  of  calves,  colts,  and  rabbits 
that  had  been  brought  there  by  the  old  wolf  for  the 
young  to  eat  and  play  with,  and  a  little  fresh  dirt 
thrown  over  all  this  made  the  place  much  pleas- 
anter. 

Hugh  worked  for  some  time  with  his  pole,  trying 
to  determine  the  direction  in  which  the  hole  ran, 
but  without  much  success.  He  could  thrust  the 
stick  in  for  five  or  six  feet,  but,  twist  it  as  he  might, 
it  would  not  go  further  than  that.  The  two  men, 
therefore,  took  their  picks  and  vigorously  attacked 
the  side  of  the  bank,  breaking  down  the  dirt,  which 
they  afterward  shovelled  out.  The  bank  was  steep, 
and  in  order  to  make  room  to  work  they  had  to 
loosen  and  remove  a  considerable  quantity  of  dirt, 


DIGGING  OUT  A  WOLF'S  DEN       151 

so  that  their  progress  was  slow.  The  morning  was 
warm,  and  the  work  gradually  grew  harder  and 
harder.  About  six  feet  from  the  entrance  the  hole 
took  a  sharp  upward  turn,  and  then  seemed  to  run 
straight  in.  Probing  it  with  his  pole,  Hugh  felt 
something  soft,  and  then  pushing  it  in  a  little 
further,  reached  a  wall  of  dirt,  which  he  pronounced 
the  end  of  the  den.  By  moving  the  point  of  the 
pole  from  side  to  side  he  could  feel  the  young 
wolves,  and  once,  when  he  gave  a  sharp  push,  a 
sound  like  the  yelping  of  a  pup  in  pain  came  from 
the  hole. 

"  Now,  Powell,"  said  Hugh,  "  if  we  can  make  this 
hole  a  little  larger,  so  that  I  can  work  my  pole,  I'll 
put  a  rope  on  the  end  of  it  and  try  and  snare  some 
of  them  puppies.  We've  got  to  go  pretty  careful, 
though.  I  expect  these  little  fellows  are  pretty 
good  size  by  now,  and  they're  likely  as  not  to  make 
a  bolt  out  of  the  hole  when  we  get  close  to  them, 
and  maybe  get  off.  Wish  we  had  one  of  the  dogs 
here.  I'll  tell  you  what  you  two  boys  do :  you  get 
your  gun,  son,  and  Charley,  you  take  your  six- 
shooter,  and  stand  just  behind  us,  and  if  anything 
runs  out,  you  try  to  kill  it,  but  look  out  you 
don't  shoot  your  father  nor  me,  and  look  out 
you  don't  shoot  the  horses.  These  pups  can't 
run  very  fast  yet,  and  you'll  have  plenty  of 
time  to  take  a  careful  sight  at  them,  and  get 
them." 

The  boys  did  as  they  were  told,  and  while  the 
work  with  pick  and  shovel  progressed,  waited  and 


152    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

watched.  Nothing  came  out,  however,  and  after  a 
time  Hugh  declared  that  he  was  going  to  try  to 
snare  the  pups.  He  fastened  a  short  rope  to  the  end 
of  his  pole  and  made  in  it  a  running  noose  about  a 
foot  in  diameter.  Then  he  lay  down  and  began  to 
angle  for  the  little  wolves.  For  some  time  he 
worked  without  success,  but  at  length,  giving  a 
quick  jerk,  he  rose  to  his  feet,  declaring,  "  I've  got 
one,"  and  dragged  to  the  light  a  kicking,  yelping 
puppy,  caught  by  a  hind  leg.  It  was  a  dull  white, 
woolly  little  beast,  sharp-nosed  and  thick-legged, 
and  about  as  big  as  a  three  months'  old  Newfound, 
land  pup.  As  soon  as  it  appeared,  it  was  seized  by 
Mr.  Powell,  who  had  wisely  put  on  his  heavy 
leather  gloves.  The  creature  fought  like  a  little 
demon,  and  bit,  and  kicked,  and  struggled,  and 
yelled,  but  soon  a  string  of  buckskin  was  tied  about 
its  muzzle,  confining  its  jaws,  its  four  legs  were  tied 
together,  and  it  was  thrown  in  a  gunny  sack,  which 
was  tied  up  and  put  in  the  slatted  box.  Again  and 
again  Hugh  tried  to  get  another,  but  without  suc- 
cess, and  finally,  in  disgust,  he  threw  his  pole  aside, 
and  the  men  attacked  the  bank  again.  Another 
hour's  work  enabled  them  to  look  into  the  hole, 
and  to  see  a  mass  of  grey  huddled  together,  almost 
within  arm's  length  of  the  opening.  Hugh  declared 
that  if  one  of  his  arms  were  only  six  feet  long,  in- 
stead of  three,  he  would  reach  in  and  haul  the 
puppies  out  one  by  one  with  his  hand.  The 
entrance  to  the  hole  was  now  so  large  that  either  of 
the  boys  might  have  crawled  in,  as  both  proposed 


DIGGING  OUT  A  WOLFS  DEN       153 

to  do,  but  the  men  declined  to  permit  this.  Cutting 
off  his  pole  to  about  the  depth  of  the  hole,  Hugh 
again  began  to  try  to  noose  the  pups,  and  this  time 
with  success,  for  one  by  one  he  hauled  out  three 
more,  which  were  disposed  of  as  the  first  had  been. 
The  last  pup,  taking  advantage  of  a  moment  when 
he  had  moved  away  from  the  hole,  bolted  out,  but 
was  struck  a  mighty  blow  with  the  spade  by  Mr. 
Powell  and  killed  on  the  spot. 

"  Well,"  said  Powell,  "  I  calculate  that's  a  mighty 
good  day's  job.  Those  five  pups  during  the  winter 
would  have  eaten  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
beef,  and  might  have  killed  five  thousand  dollars' 
worth.  It  seems  like  I  ought  to  make  you  men  a 
good  present  for  what  you  have  done  to  help  get 
rid  of  these  varmints." 

"  Pshaw ! "  said  Hugh,  "  we've  been  mighty  glad 
to  do  it,  and  I  expect  son,  here,  would  be  mighty 
glad  to  take  his  pay  in  one  or  two  of  them  pups 
that's  in  the  waggon." 

"Yes,  indeed,  Mr.  Powell,"  said  Jack,  "we've 
been  glad  to  help,  and  it's  been  great  fun.  Of 
course,  if  you  and  Charley  don't  want  all  these 
pups,  I'd  like  one  of  them  for  myself,  to  see  if  I 
could  not  tame  him  and  make  a  dog  of  him.  It 
would  be  great  fun  to  walk  up  and  down  the  streets 
of  New  York,  leading  a  real  wolf  at  the  end  of  a 
chain.  I  expect  he'd  take  first  prize  at  all  the  dog 
shows." 

"I  expect  likely  he  would,"  said  Mr.  Powell, 
44  and  you'd  be  certain  sure  he  had  a  good  straight 


154    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

pedigree,  running  back  to  the  first  wolf  that  ever 
came  to  America/* 

Mrs.  Powell  had  put  a  lunch  in  the  waggon,  but 
before  this  could  be  eaten  water  must  be  found. 
Charley  said  that  not  more  than  a  half-mile  away 
there  was  a  good  clear  spring,  running  out  from 
under  a  rock  in  the  bank,  and  when  they  went  to  the 
place  they  spent  a  pleasant  hour  eating  their  lunch, 
and  lying  in  the  shade  of  the  waggon.  Jack  and 
Charley  looked  once  or  twice  at  the  wolf  pups,  to  see 
that  they  were  still  alive  and  still  properly  tied,  and, 
at  length,  as  the  sun  began  to  fall  toward  the  west- 
ern horizon,  the  party  started  for  the  ranch. 

When  they  got  there,  it  was  necessary  to  make  a 
permanent  cage  for  the  wolf  puppies,  as  no  box  or 
rope  would  hold  them  long  after  their  jaws  were 
free.  Charley  asked  Hugh  what  they  had  better  do. 
They  could  build  a  log  pen,  but  if  they  did  that  the 
pups  would  be  likely  to  dig  out  under  the  logs. 
Hugh  studied  for  a  while  and  at  length  said,  "  I'll 
tell  you  what  we've  got  to  do ;  we've  got  to  build  a 
regular  cage,  with  walls  so  smooth  and  high  that  the 
pups  can't  climb  up  them,  and  running  down  into 
the  ground  so  far  that  they  won't  be  likely  to  dig 
out  under  them.  Now,  you  go  and  ask  your  pa  if 
we  can  use  a  lot  of  fence  poles  from  that  pile  he  has 
over  there.  We'll  sharpen  them  and  drive  them 
down  as  far  as  we  can  into  the  dirt,  close  together 
in  a  circle,  and  then  we'll  saw  them  off  about  three 
feet  high  and  wire  a  roof  of  poles  to  the  top  of  them  ; 
but,  before  we  do  that  we'll  pave  the  cage  with  a  lot 


DIGGING  OUT  A  WOLF'S  DEN        155 

of  big  flat  stones.  I  reckon  if  we  do  that  we'll  have 
the  bulge  on  these  fellows,  and  they  can't  get  away 
from  us." 

The  plan  was  adopted.  A  circle  was  traced 
in  the  ground  and  the  earth  loosened  all  about 
its  borders.  Then  a  lot  of  fence  poles  were  cut 
into  four-feet  lengths,  sharpened  at  one  end  and 
driven  firmly  into  the  ground,  close  together  about 
the  circle.  Next  the  boys  brought  flat  stones  from 
the  prairie  and  made  a  neat  pavement  on  the  ground 
inside  the  cage.  Other  poles  cut  to  a  proper  length 
were  laid  across  the  top  of  the  cage  and  firmly  wired 
down,  all  except  the  last  two,  which  were  left  loose. 
The  box  containing  the  wolf  pups  was  now  brought 
up,  the  little  fellows  one  by  one  were  taken  out  of 
their  sacks,  their  lashings  cut,  and  they  were 
dropped  into  the  cage,  and  then  the  last  two  poles 
were  placed  in  position  and  fastened.  Several  heavy 
sticks  were  laid  across  the  roof  to  hold  it  down,  so 
that  the  roof  poles  should  remain  firm,  even  though 
considerable  force  were  exerted  on  them.  They  all 
drew  back  when  the  work  was  done,  and  eyed  it  with 
satisfaction,  and  for  a  time  watched  the  four  puppies 
within,  restlessly  trotting  about  the  cage  and  con- 
stantly  pushing  their  noses  between  the  poles  in  the 
endeavour  to  squeeze  out.  Everything  seemed  to  be 
firm,  however,  and  they  left  the  pups  to  their  own 
devices. 

"  Seems  to  me  there's  one  thing  we've  forgotten, 
Charley,"  said  Hugh.  "  How  are  you  going  to  feed 
and  water  them  puppies  ?  I  did  forget  all  about 


156    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

that,  didn't  I  ?  You  can  stick  food  in  anywhere  be- 
tween the  poles,  but  we'll  have  to  take  off  part  of 
the  roof  again  and  put  a  dish  in  for  them  to  drink 
out  of.  When  that  is  there  it  can  be  filled  as  often 
as  they  need  it,  from  the  outside."  By  the  time  this 
change  had  been  made  it  was  supper  time,  and  all 
hands  went  to  the  house. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

BIRDS  AND  THEIR  NESTS 

THE  next  day  Hugh  and  Jack  set  out  to  return 
to  the  ranch.  Before  leaving,  all  hands  went  out 
and  took  a  look  at  the  wolf  puppies.  They  seemed 
to  be  all  right,  but  had  evidently  made  some  at- 
tempts to  gnaw  their  way  out,  but  their  young 
teeth  could  not  make  much  impression  in  the  tough 
spruce  sticks  which  formed  their  cage. 

"  After  they  get  a  little  bigger,"  said  Hugh  to 
Charley,  "  unless  they  should  grow  tame,  you  will 
either  have  to  drive  more  poles  into  the  ground 
or  else  you'll  have  to  kill  the  pups.  They're  so 
big  now  that  I  think  it's  pretty  doubtful  whether 
they  ever  get  tame  at  all,  and  of  course  if  they  don't 
get  tame,  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  kill  them.  I've 
seen  a  heap  of  wolf  and  coyote  puppies  caught,  but 
they've  got  to  be  mighty  young  ever  to  lose  their 
wildness,  and  to  get  so  that  you  can  do  anything 
with  them.  We'll  have  to  leave  our  pup  here  until 
it  gets  a  little  older  and  we  see  whether  they  are 
likely  to  get  tame  or  not." 

They  bade  good-bye  to  the  Powell  family,  with 
cordial  thanks  for  all  their  kindness,  and  invitations 

157 


158    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

for  them  to  come  over  to  the  ranch  and  visit  them 
for  a  few  days. 

Jack  said  to  Charley, "  After  awhile,  when  the  elks' 
horns  get  big,  and  they  get  fat,  come  over  with  the 
waggon  and  we'll  go  out  and  kill  two  or  three,  and 
you  can  take  back  the  meat  with  you.  Hugh  says  we 
only  have  to  go  two  or  three  miles  from  the  house 
upon  the  mountain,  to  get  all  the  elk  we  want." 

On  their  way  back  they  rode  down  the  bluffs,  not 
far  from  where  Jack  had  killed  the  lion,  and  here, 
as  they  were  going  along,  Jack  suddenly  saw,  not 
far  in  front  of  him,  a  queer,  dark  grey  object,  shaped 
somewhat  like  a  big  tortoise,  running  along  on  the 
prairie  in  front  of  him.  In  a  moment  he  recognised 
that  it  was  a  sage  grouse,  with  wings  partly  extended 
and  body  held  low,  and  for  a  moment  he  did  not 
know  what  to  make  of  the  bird's  action. 

"  Hold  on,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  there's  where  she 
started  from  ;  "  and  he  pointed  to  a  low  sage-bush 
a  little  to  one  side.  "  Get  off  your  horse  and  go  and 
look  under  that,  and  see  what  there  is  there." 
Jack  did  so,  and  saw  a  hollow  in  the  ground, 
scantily  lined  with  bits  of  grass,  in  which  were  thir- 
teen greyish  eggs,  not  so  large  as  an  ordinary  hen's 
egg- 

"  Oh,  Hugh  ! "  he  called  back,  "  There  are  thir- 
teen eggs;  can't  we  take  them  along?"  Hugh 
rode  up  to  the  spot,  leading  Jack's  horse,  and  looked 
at  the  nest.  "  Well,  now,"  he  said,  "  seems  to  me 
I  would  not  bother  with  that  nest ;  we've  got  a  long 
way  to  go  yet,  and  the  chances  are  we'd  smash  the 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  NESTS  159 

eggs  before  we  got  home,  and  if  we  didn't  do  that, 
they'd  be  pretty  sure  to  get  cold,  and  wouldn't 
hatch.  Let's  leave  that  old  hen  alone,  and  some 
day  we'll  hunt  up  a  nest  right  close  to  home, 
and  get  a  setting  of  eggs  there.  'Tain't  no  use  to 
take  these  eggs  without  they're  going  to  do  us  some 
good." 

"  Well,  all  right,"  said  Jack,  rather  reluctantly,  as 
he  turned  away.  "  We've  got  a  long  way  to  go,  but 
do  you  suppose  we'll  be  able  to  find  another  nest 
near  the  ranch  ?  " 

"  I  expect  we  will,"  was  the  answer  ;  "  though  of 
course  it  isn't  any  sure  thing ;  it's  getting  pretty  late 
to  find  eggs  now ;  we  won't  have  any  trouble  find- 
ing young  ones,  though." 

Jack  mounted,  and  from  the  saddle  looked  about 
to  try  to  see  the  old  hen,  but  she  had  disappeared ; 
so  they  went  on. 

The  supper  horn  sounded  that  night  just  as  they 
were  riding  up  the  valley,  toward  the  house,  and  be- 
fore they  had  unsaddled  all  hands  were  seated  at 
the  table.  Before  the  meal  was  ended,  Jack  had  to 
tell  the  story  of  his  killing  the  lion,  and  of  the 
death  of  the  wolf  ;  and  after  supper  he  brought  in 
his  roll  of  hides,  and  spread  out  both  the  lion  and 
the  wolf  skin  on  the  floor,  so  that  all  might  see  them. 
The  men  were  loud  in  their  congratulations,  and  Joe 
declared  that  he  would  have  given  a  horse  to  have 
been  in  Jack's  place.  "  You're  in  the  biggest  kind 
of  luck,  Jack,"  he  said.  "  I've  been  riding  the  range 
right  around  here  now  for  five  years  and  I  never 


160    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

caught  a  glimp  of  a  lion  yet.  I've  helped  to  rope 
three  bears,  but  of  course  that's  no  trick  at  all  if 
you  know  your  horse.  I  roped  a  cow  elk  once,  and 
what's  more,  brought  her  into  the  ranch.  I  had 
better  luck  that  time  than  old  Vicente,  down  below 
here.  He  roped  a  bull  elk,  just  on  the  edge  of  the 
rocky  ground.  His  horse  was  small  and  the  elk 
drug  him  a  little  way,  and  he  got  scared  and  turned 
his  rope  loose,  and  the  elk  went  off  up  the  moun- 
tain, dragging  a  twelve-dollar  raw-hide  rope  behind 
him.  But  I'd  have  liked  almighty  well  to  have 
been  along  with  you  fellows,  and  had  a  chance  to 
have  a  shot  at  that  lion.  You  were  sure  in  great 
luck." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  «  I  don't  believe  I'd  have  had  a 
chance  myself  if  it  hadn't  been  for  Pawnee  ;  he  ran 
just  as  hard  as  he  could,  and  got  away  ahead  of  the 
other  horses,  and  so  I  had  the  luck  to  get  the  shot." 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "you  made  the  most  of  your 
chance,  anyhow.  Maybe  it  isn't  every  fellow  that 
would  have  shot  as  straight  as  you  did,  if  he'd  had 
the  chance  to  shoot  at  all." 

Mr.  Sturgis,  too,  had  words  of  congratulation  for 
Jack ;  but  later  in  the  evening  he  cautioned  him 
not  to  let  his  excitement  carry  him  into  dangerous 
places.  " You  see, Jack,"  he  said,  "just  as  Hugh 
feels  responsible  to  me  for  your  safety,  so  I  feel  re- 
sponsible to  your  father  and  mother.  You  might  live 
out  here  for  two  or  three  years  without  ever  getting 
close  to  a  lion,  but  you  managed  to  do  it  after  you'd 
been  here  only  a  couple  of  months.  The  life  her* 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  NESTS  161 

is  as  safe  as  it  is  anywhere,  but  a  man  must  use  the 
same  precautions  against  danger  that  he  would  in 
any  other  part  of  the  world.  He  must  use  common 
sense,  and  not  expose  himself  to  the  risk  of  being 
clawed  by  a  lion,  or  run  over  by  a  team,  or  hurt  by 
a  fighting  cow.  You've  been  lucky  enough  so  far, 
and  have  carried  yourself  well,  but  I  want  you  to 
use  as  much  discretion  as  you  can." 

"  All  right,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack,  "  I'll  try  to  re- 
member  what  you  and  Hugh  tell  me.  I  confess 
that  when  I  was  galloping  after  the  lion,  or  again 
after  the  wolf,  I  didn't  think  of  a  single  thing  ex- 
cept trying  to  get  as  close  to  the  animal  as  I  could  ; 
but  when  the  lion  jumped  out  of  the  tree  at  me,  I 
was  a  little  frightened.  I  didn't  have  time  to  be 
much  frightened,  because  Pawnee  jumped  so  quickly 
and  took  me  out  of  the  beast's  way." 

"  What  do  you  think,  Uncle  Will,  about  the  wolf 
puppy  that  we  left  at  Mr.  Powell's,"  Jack  went  on. 
"  Will  it  ever  get  tame  ?  I  should  like  to  own  a 
wolf  that  was  as  tame  as  a  dog,  and  to  take  it  back 
to  New  York  with  me.  Wouldn't  it  make  people 
stare !  I  don't  believe  half  the  people  would  believe 
it  was  a  wolf." 

"You'd  better  ask  that  question  of  Hugh,"  said 
his  uncle ;  "  he  knows  more  about  those  things 
than  I.  I  have  never  seen  a  tame  wolf,  myself, 
though  I  have  heard  of  many  of  them  ;  but  I  fancy 
that  pups  that  are  caught  as  old  as  he  seemed  to  be  do 
not  ever  really  get  tame.  I  do  not  believe  that  this 
wolf  puppy  will  ever  be  of  any  particular  use  to  you. 
ti 


162    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

But  if  you  are  going  to  start  the  menagerie  we 
talked  of  before  we  came  out  here,  it  is  time  you 
began.  The  antelope  kids  can  be  got  now,  and  if  I 
were  you  I  would  try  to  get  two  or  three.  Then 
there  are  some  ducks'  nests  down  by  the  lake  that 
you  might  rob,  and  bring  the  eggs  up  to  be  hatched 
out  at  the  house.  There  are  two  old  hens  out  here 
now,  I  believe,  that  want  to  set,  and  you  might  try 
each  of  them  with  a  lot  of  wild  ducks'  eggs.  Rube 
found  the  nests  day  before  yesterday,  and  I  think 
would  like  to  go  down  there  and  help  you  get  them. 
In  the  course  of  two  or  three  days  the  horse  round- 
up will  be  here,  and  for  a  day  or  two  we'll  all  be 
busy  cutting  out  horses  and  branding  colts.  After 
that,  Antonio  is  going  to  ride  some  wild  horses,  and 
I  suppose  you  want  to  be  here  for  that ;  so  you  had 
better  get  your  ducks'  eggs  now,  or  the  first  thing 
you  know  they'll  be  swimming  in  the  lake  and  you'll 
never  get  your  hands  on  them." 

"  All  right,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack.  «  If  Rube  will 
go  with  me,  we'll  start  right  after  breakfast  to-mor- 
row morning." 

"  Well,"  said  his  uncle,  "  you  ask  him  to-morrow 
morning  at  breakfast.  He'll  go  with  you  if  he  can." 

After  breakfast  next  morning,  Rube  and  Jack 
went  down  to  the  lake,  each  carrying  a  small  wooden 
box,  partly  filled  with  hay.  The  ducks'  nests  were 
easily  found.  One  of  them  belonged  to  quite  a 
small  bird,  which  flew  off  close  to  the  ground  as  the 
riders  approached.  They  found  that  this  nest 
contained  nine  roundish  eggs,  about  the  colour  of 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  NESTS  163 

old  ivory,  that  is  yellowish  white.  The  other  nest, 
which  was  not  far  off,  belonged  to  a  larger  bird,  and 
in  this  there  were  eleven  somewhat  larger  eggs. 
All  the  eggs  from  the  first  nest  were  placed  in  one 
box,  and  those  from  the  second  in  another,  and  they 
returned  to  the  house,  riding  very  slowly  and  care- 
fully, carrying  the  boxes  in  their  hands,  so  that  they 
should  not  be  jarred  or  shaken.  In  the  hen-house 
the  two  old  hens  were  provided  with  good  nests  of 
clean  hay,  each  in  a  barrel,  which  was  covered  at 
night  so  as  to  prevent  anything  from  disturbing 
them,  and  one  setting  of  eggs  was  put  under  each 
hen.  Rube  declared  that  he  didn't  feel  quite  safe 
about  those  hens,  they  were  so  big  and  the  eggs  were 
so  small  that  he  was  afraid  they  would  break  them. 
"  And  if  they  don't  break  them,"  he  said,  "  they're 
liable  to  step  on  the  young  ones  when  they  hatch 
out,  and  kill  half  of  them.  Still,  I  suppose  we've 
got  to  take  that  risk." 

The  morning  had  only  half  gone  when  the  eggs 
were  disposed  of,  and  Jack  looked  about  to  see  what 
else  he  could  do.  There  was  no  one  about  the 
house  except  Mrs.  Carter,  who  was  sewing,  and 
Rube,  who  had  gone  down  to  the  stable  and  was 
working  there.  Jack  threw  himself  on  the  grass 
just  outside  the  house  door,  and  lay  there  in  the 
warm  sun.  For  a  while  he  did  nothing  except  to 
think  over  the  last  few  days,  and  remember  what 
fun  he  had  had.  He  determined  that  before  night 
he  would  write  a  long  letter  to  his  father,  telling 
him  that  he  would  rather  not  go  back  and  go  to 


164    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

school  and  college,  for  he  wanted  to  be  a  ranch* 
man. 

After  a  time  he  noticed  some  swallows  circling 
about  over  the  grass  near  him.  They  were  very 
small  and  did  not  look  like  the  swallows  that  he  had 
seen  back  east,  most  of  which  have  breasts  about 
the  colour  of  iron  rust.  These  little  fellows  were 
wonderfully  quick,  so  much  so  that  sometimes  it 
was  hard  for  the  eye  to  follow  them.  They  made 
wide  circles  out  over  the  grass,  or  again  flew  so  close 
to  the  house  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  must  dash 
themselves  against  the  logs.  Suddenly,  one  of  them 
flew  squarely  toward  the  house,  but  when  he  had 
almost  reached  it,  turned  upward  and  alighted  on 
one  of  the  roof  poles,  where  he  sat,  twittering  faintly, 
and  occasionally  arranging  his  feathers.  Sometimes 
the  little  bird  walked  a  few  inches,  turning  himself 
this  way  and  that,  and  then  Jack  could  see  that  his 
back  was  almost  the  colour  of  a  peacock's  tail,  shining 
green  in  some  places,  and  shining  purple  in  others. 
He  felt  sure  that  he  could  describe  this  bird  well 
enough  so  that  his  uncle  could  tell  him  what  it  was. 
All  at  once,  to  his  surprise,  the  swallow  walked 
into  a  hole  between  two  of  the  roof  poles,  and  was 
not  seen  again,  but  a  moment  afterward  another 
little  bird,  just  like  the  first,  except  that  its  back 
was  dull  brown,  walked  out  of  the  hole  and  flew 
away  over  the  valley. 

Jack  did  not  know  very  much  about  birds,  but  he 
decided  that  this  last  one  was  the  female,  and  that 
these  two  little  swallows  had  a  nest  somewhere  in 


BIRDS  AND  THEIR  NESTS  165 

the  roof.  He  determined  too  that  he  would  watch 
them  and  see  what  they  did  every  day,  for  they 
were  so  pretty  and  so  quick  and  graceful  that  it  was 
fun  to  look  at  them.  About  noon  he  saw  his  uncle 
and  Hugh  ride  up  to  the  barn  and  unsaddle,  and 
before  long  he  was  asking  about  the  swallows. 

"  Why  yes,"  said  his  uncle,  "  those  birds  build 
there  every  year.  They  are  a  pair  of  violet  green 
swallows  ;  there  are  lots  of  them  here  in  the  moun- 
tains, and  they  build  in  little  holes  in  the  dead  trees, 
or  in  the  rocks ;  but  these  two  have  a  nest  some- 
where up  in  the  roof,  every  summer.  I  think  it  was 
last  year  that  the  young  ones,  when  they  were  about 
full-grown,  flew  out  of  the  nest  and  fell  into  the 
muslin  that  forms  the  ceiling  of  the  sitting-room. 
They  scrambled  around  there  for  nearly  a  whole 
day,  and  made  so  much  noise  that  finally  we  cut  a 
hole  in  the  muslin  and  got  them  out.  They  were 
about  as  big  as  the  old  ones,  and  full  feathered,  and 
the  next  morning  we  took  them  out  and  put  them 
on  the  roof,  and  the  old  ones  at  once  fed  them  and 
began  to  teach  them  to  fly.  If  you  want  to  find 
out  what  birds  there  are  about  here,  you  had  better 
take  my  bird  book  down  from  the  shelf  and  study  it 
a  little  each  day.  I  can  help  you,  for  I  know  the 
names  of  most  of  the  common  birds."  Saying  this, 
his  uncle  went  into  the  house. 

"  How  are  the  calves,  Hugh?  "  said  Jack.  "  Have 
the  coyotes  been  bothering  them  at  all  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  they  are  all  right,  and 
big  and  strong.  I  expect  in  the  course  of  a  month 


i66    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

now  your  uncle  will  be  bringing  them  over  to  the  cor- 
rals  to  brand,  but  we  won't  do  that  until  after  we've 
got  through  with  the  horses.  The  roundup  ought  to 
be  along  here  most  any  time  now,  and  when  it  gets 
here  you'll  see  quite  a  lot  of  fun  when  we  get  to 
working  them." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN 

FOR  several  days  the  people  at  the  ranch  kept 
looking  for  the  arrival  of  the  horse  roundup,  but 
it  did  not  come.  One  morning  at  breakfast  Mr. 
Sturgis  said  to  Hugh,  "Well,  Hugh,  instead  of  sit- 
ting about  here  any  longer,  you  might  go  up  to-day 
on  to  the  mountain  and  look  around  to  find  some 
good  strong  corral  poles  and  posts.  Some  of  the 
poles  in  the  big  corral  are  getting  pretty  weak,  and 
as  soon  as  the  roundup  has  passed,  we  may  as  well 
make  that  corral  over.  Try  to  find  poles  that  are 
easy  got  out,  and  of  course  as  near  home  as  you 
can  ;  and  if  you  get  a  chance,  you  might  kill  a  heifer 
or  a  young  bull,  if  you  should  see  one." 

"All  right,"  said  Hugh.  "  I'll  be  glad  to  take  a 
little  ride  ;  I'm  getting  tired  of  sitting  round  wait- 
ing for  them  horses.  Son/'  he  continued,  speaking 
to  Jack,  "  do  you  want  to  go  along?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Hugh,  I'd  like  to  first-class,"  was 
the  reply. 

After  breakfast  they  started,  and  began  to  climb 
the  mountain  behind  the  house,  following  a  steep 
trail  which  led  up  the  side  of  a  deep,  narrow  valley. 


168    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

down  which  a  large  brook  flowed.  Jack  had  nevef 
ridden  in  this  direction  before,  but  he  had  often 
wondered  what  there  was  on  top  of  the  mountain, 
and  he  was  glad  to  have  a  chance  to  go  there. 
Pawnee  followed  close  after  old  Baldy  up  the  narrow 
trail,  and  not  much  was  said  by  the  riders,  but  Jack's 
eyes  were  busy  looking  at  the  rough  mountain  side 
and  at  the  precipices  of  red  rock  that  overhung  the 
way.  After  some  time  they  crossed  a  narrow  side 
valley,  where  there  was  a  little  grass  and  underbrush 
and  a  few  tall  pines.  As  they  were  riding  through 
this,  Jack  suddenly  saw  quite  a  large  bird  running 
along  before  them.  It  seemed  to  be  hurt ;  its  wings 
were  trailing  on  the  ground,  it  ran  half  crouched 
down,  and  every  now  and  then  it  would  fall  over  on 
its  side,  and  then  recover  itself  and  struggle  along 
a  little  further. 

"Oh,  Hugh!"  he  called  out,  "see  that  bird  I 
Wait  a  minute,  I  want  to  catch  it." 

Hugh  stopped  his  horse,  and  Jack,  jumping  down, 
ran  after  the  bird  and  almost  put  his  hand  on  it.  It 
just  managed  to  struggle  out  of  his  fingers  and  ran 
along  before  him,  tottering  as  if  it  were  very  feeble. 
He  followed  it  for  twenty  or  thirty  yards  further, 
not  quite  catching  it,  when  suddenly,  with  a  great 
whirr  of  wings,  it  rose  from  the  ground  and  flew  off 
up  the  mountain  side.  Jack  stopped  and  watched  it 
with  open  mouth,  and  then  turned  to  go  back  to 
his  horse.  When  he  reached  it  Hugh  said  to  him 
with  a  smile : 

"Where's  your  bird?0 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      169 

"  That's  the  most  mysterious  thing  I  ever  saw," 
said  Jack.  "  I  almost  had  that  bird  three  or  four 
times,  and  suddenly  it  flew  off  as  if  nothing  was  the 
matter  with  it." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "didn't  you  ever  see  that 
before?  That's  an  old  blue  grouse,  and  her  young 
ones  are  scattered  around  on  the  ground  right  where 
we're  standing.  She  just  pretended  she  was  hurt  to 
lead  you  away  from  them,  and  as  soon  as  we  are 
gone  she  will  come  back  to  them.  You'd  better 
look  out  where  you  put  your  foot  down,  or  you 
might  step  on  one.  They're  here  right  close,  and 
yet  we  might  look  for  half  a  day  and  not  be  able  to 
find  one  of  them." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  that's  curious.  I  think  I 
have  heard  my  uncle  tell  about  birds  doing  that 
sort  of  thing,  but  I  never  saw  it  until  to-day.  That 
was  a  pretty  big  bird,  but  not  as  big  as  a  sage  hen, 
is  it?" 

"No,"  said  Hugh,  "they're  quite  a  little  bit 
smaller  than  a  sage  hen,  and  still  they're  lots  bigger 
than  a  pheasant,  and  they're  awful  good  eating, 
too." 

Jack  mounted  and  they  rode  on  up  the  trail. 

After  quite  a  long  scramble  up  the  steep  moun- 
tain trail  they  came  to  a  rolling,  grassy  plateau,  in- 
terrupted here  and  there  by  clumps  of  pines,  and 
occasionally  by  great  knobs  of  red  granite  rock. 
They  rode  for  several  miles  over  this  upland  with- 
out seeing  anything  that  was  interesting,  until,  as 
they  were  approaching  one  of  these  tall  knobs 


JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

of  rock,  they  heard  a  loud  piercing  whistle  come 
from  it. 

Hugh  stopped  his  horse,  and  when  Jack  rode  up 
beside  him,  said : 

"  Now,  let's  watch  them  rocks  for  a  little  while, 
and  see  whether  we  can  see  that  fellow." 

"  What  fellow  do  you  mean,  Hugh,"  said  Jack ; 
"  the  thing  that  made  that  noise  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  what  some  folks  call  a 
mountain  marmot,  but  I  call  it  a  woodchuck,  be- 
cause  it  looks  just  like  the  woodchucks  I  used  to 
see  when  I  was  a  boy  down  in  Kentucky,  only  it's 
considerable  bigger,  and  it's  got  a  kind  of  a  yellow 
belly.  It  can  make  more  noise  for  its  size  than 
most  any  beast  I  know  of." 

They  sat  there  for  a  few  moments  and  watched 
the  rock  about  which  the  hot  air  was  dancing,  when 
suddenly  Hugh  said,  "  I  believe  I  see  him ;  I 
think  he  just  stuck  his  head  out  of  that  crack  in 
the  rock.  Do  you  see  there,  near  the  top  ?  Follow 
that  crack  along  with  your  eye  and  you'll  notice  a 
little  grey  knob  that  was  not  there  a  minute  ago." 

"  Oh,  I  see  it,"  said  Jack. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  now  watch  that  and  see  i! 
it  don't  move." 

After  a  few  seconds  the  knob  moved,  and,  in  a 
minute  an  animal  came  out  of  the  crevice  in  the 
rock  and  sat  up. 

"  That  would  be  a  good  shot,"  said  Hugh,  "  if  we 
had  not  come  up  here  to  try  to  hunt ;  but  youf 
uncle  wants  us  to  try  to  kill  him  some  meat,  if  we 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      171 

can  ;  so  we  won't  shoot  at  woodchuck.  Let's  ride 
on  and  when  we  get  a  little  nearer  to  him  he'll  give 
one  them  whistles  of  his  and  then  dodge  into  that 
crack  in  the  rock." 

It  happened  just  as  Hugh  had  said,  and  soon  after 
they  began  to  move  forward,  the  animal  gave 
another  shrill  whistle  and  again  disappeared  from 
view. 

"  There's  quite  a  piece  of  burnt  timber  about  a 
half  mile  off  here  to  the  north ;  let's  go  over  and 
look  at  that,  and  see  if  we  can  get  the  fence-poles 
that  we  need  ;  then  we'll  leave  our  horses  and  go 
afoot  a  little  way,  to  see  if  we  can  see  any  elk." 

They  rode  over  to  the  timber  which  had  been 
killed  by  fire  some  years  before.  Hugh  spent  some 
little  time  looking  at  it,  but  at  length  rode  out  into 
an  open  park,  unsaddled  his  horse  and  tied  its  rope  to 
a  little  tree,  Jack  doing  the  same.  They  took  their 
rifles  and  started  off  along  the  edge  of  the  timber 
on  foot. 

"  I  see  some  elk  sign  in  this  timber,  and  some  of 
it  is  right  fresh,  but  if  you  see  any  elk  before  I  do, 
don't  shoot.  I  don't  want  to  kill  any  old  cows  now, 
because  their  calves  are  right  young  and  they'd  be 
liable  to  starve  to  death.  If  we  can  find  a  heifer 
we'll  kill  one ;  she'll  be  in  a  pretty  good  order,  and 
just  what  they  want  at  the  ranch."  They  had  not 
gone  far  before  Jack  noticed  in  the  dirt  some  tracks, 
and  just  as  he  was  about  to  speak  of  them,  Hugh 
stopped  and  said : 

"  Now.  son.  I  want  you  to  look  at  these  tracks : 


i;2    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

you  see  they  look  considerable  like  cattle  tracks, 
but  they  ain't,  they're  elk.  Now,  look  at  this  track 
here,"  he  said,  pointing  to  one  of  the  largest,  "  that 
looks  a  good  deal  like  the  track  of  a  two-year-old 
critter,  but  just  see  how  long  it  steps ;  that  will 
show  you  that  it's  an  elk ;  the  sign  shows  that  it's  a 
bull,  but  a  young  one.  These  other  tracks  you  see 
here,  they're  cows  and  heifers  and  a  yearling  or  two. 
Now,  you  see,  these  tracks  are  fresh ;  just  notice 
how  the  dirt  in  each  one  seems  kind  of  shining  and 
polished.  A  big  heavy  animal  putting  its  hoof 
down  hard  on  the  dirt  makes  the  place  where  its 
weight  rested  look  like  that.  Now,  this  track  that 
I  told  you  was  a  bull's,  looks  different ;  you  can  see 
that  for  yourself ;  it  isn't  polished  but  it  looks  kind 
of  dull.  The  reason  for  that  is  that  the  wind  has 
blown  the  dust  about  in  the  hoof  mark  and  has 
partly  covered  it  up.  On  dry  ground  like  this  an 
old  track  can  always  be  told  by  that.  Now,  over 
there,"  he  continued,  pointing,  "  are  some  tracks 
made  in  the  spring,  when  the  ground  was  wet.  Of 
course,  you  see  that  they  sink  in  deep,  as  any  tracks 
would  that  were  made  in  the  mud.  It  ain't  much 
use  for  me  to  tell  you  about  these  things,  except  to 
make  you  notice  quicker  what  the  difference  is  in 
the  different  tracks  you  see.  A  man's  got  to  study 
tracks  a  heap  before  ever  he  can  become  a  good 
trailer.  There  isn't  anything  but  experience  that'll 
teach  you  what  a  track  means,  but  often  they  tell  a 
pretty  plain  story  to  a  man  who  knows  how  to  read 
them.  It's  wonderful  to  me  to  go  out  up  in  the 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      173 

mountains  when  there's  a  fresh  snow  on  the  ground. 
You  can  see  just  what  all  the  birds  and  animals 
have  been  doing  since  the  snow  fell ;  and  often  from 
the  tracks  you  see  you  can  tell  just  what  they  were 
thinking  about." 

"Yes,  indeed,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  Uncle  Will  has 
talked  to  me  about  that,  and  he  told  me,  too,  that 
you  were  the  best  trailer  he'd  ever  seen.  I  want  to 
keep  my  eyes  open  and  try  to  learn  from  you  as 
much  as  I  can." 

"  Well,"  replied  Hugh,  "  I  have  been  learning  for 
a  good  many  years,  and  you  can't  expect  to  pick  it 
all  up  in  a  few  months.  I'm  mighty  glad  though  to 
tell  you  all  I  know." 

From  here  they  went  on,  and  soon,  turning  to  the 
right,  followed  a  narrow  game  trail  which  led  along 
the  top  of  a  deep  ravine,  down  which  flowed  a  brook 
that  they  could  hear  splashing  and  bubbling  among 
the  rocks.  They  had  not  gone  very  far  when  a 
stick  cracked  down  below  them  by  the  brook,  and 
Hugh  stopped  and  stood  listening.  He  slipped  a 
cartridge  into  his  gun,  and  Jack  imitated  him,  and 
then  both  crouched  in  the  trail  and  listened.  A 
moment  later  something  was  heard  climbing  the 
bank  toward  them,  and  Hugh,  turning  to  Jack, 
whispered,  "  It's  a  bear.  Get  ready."  Jack  cocked 
his  gun  and  looked  with  all  his  eyes,  and  presently, 
not  twenty  yards  below,  he  saw  a  brown  animal  step 
out  of  the  bushes.  "  Shoot,"  said  Hugh  ;  and  Jack, 
aiming  at  the  point  of  the  bear's  shoulder,  fired. 
The  animal  dropped  and  rolled  out  of  sight  among 


174    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  bushes ;  but  in  a  moment  he  re-appeared,  gallop, 
ing  toward  them.  "  Shoot,"  said  Hugh  again,  and 
Jack  threw  the  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  fired,  but 
the  bear  kept  on.  "Shoot  again,"  said  Hugh; 
"  carefully,  this  time."  And  again  Jack  aimed  at 
the  bear,  now  not  ten  yards  from  them,  and  fired. 
This  time  the  animal  doubled  up  and  rolled  down 
the  hill  again,  but  before  it  reached  the  fringe  of 
bushes  its  motion  stopped  and  it  lay  stretched  out 
in  the  sunlight. 

"  Good  boy,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  believe  you  missed 
him  with  your  second  shot,  but  the  third  one  was  all 
right.  Did  you  feel  like  running  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I  don't  believe  I  did.  I  was 
too  busy  shoving  cartridges  into  my  rifle,  and  trying 
to  hit  the  right  spot,  to  think  about  anything  else. 
But  was  he  charging  us,  Hugh  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  expect  he  was.  You 
see,  he  hadn't  no  idea  that  we  were  'round  until 
your  first  shot  hit  him,  and  he  didn't  know  where 
that  came  from,  and  was  just  trying  to  get  away. 
He  happened  to  run  in  our  direction,  that  was  all. 
I  don't  think  he  wanted  to  be  mean.  Well,  you've 
killed  your  first  bear,  son,  and  you're  surely  getting 
to  be  a  real  old  hunter.  You  take  to  it  in  the  right 
way,  and  I'm  right  glad  you  do.  If  you  and  me 
could  travel  together  for  a  year  or  two,  I'd  guarantee 
to  make  a  hunter  of  you.  Well  now,  let's  go  down 
and  skin  that  little  fellow." 

They  found  the  bear  quite  dead  and  with  only 
two  bullet  holes  in  his  hide.  The  first  one  showed 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      175 

that  Jack's  first  shot  had  been  a  bad  one ;  he  had 
fired  at  the  point  of  the  bear's  shoulder,  but  had  hit  it 
in  the  top  of  the  head,  just  grazing  the  skull.  There 
was  nothing  to  show  where  the  second  shot  had  gone, 
but  the  third  one  had  pierced  his  chest  and  had  gone 
lengthwise  through  his  body. 

"  There,"  said  Hugh,  "you  see  what  I  told  you ; 
that  first  shot  gave  him  a  rap  on  the  head  and  sort 
o'  stunned  and  dazed  him,  and  I  don't  believe  he 
knew  which  way  he  was  running.  I  suppose  you'd 
like  to  take  off  his  hide,  because  he's  the  first  bear 
you've  ever  killed,  but  it  ain't  in  very  good  order. 
You  see,  he's  partly  shed  off,  and  what's  left  of  his 
old  winter  coat  is  all  sunburned.  Still,  we  may  as 
well  skin  him.  You  can  use  the  hide  for  a  while, 
and  then,  if  you  like  you  can  cut  off  his  front  paws, 
just  to  keep  the  long  claws.  You  see,  he's  a  little 
fellow,  just  about  the  size  of  the  one  your  uncle 
killed  that  day  we  came  out  from  town." 

Jack  helped  to  skin  the  bear,  and  found  that  it 
was  hard,  slow  work. 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  to  whom  he  spoke  of  this, 
"  skinning  a  bear  is  some  like  skinning  a  beaver ; 
you  can't  strip  the  hide  at  all,  you've  got  to  cut 
every  inch." 

After  the  hide  had  been  removed  they  carried  it 
up  to  the  trail  and  made  a  bundle  of  it,  and  then, 
going  down  to  the  brook,  washed  the  blood  from 
their  hands,  and  Hugh  sat  down  and  smoked.  As 
they  sat  there  Jack  noticed  two  or  three  birds  fly 
down  toward  where  the  bear  lay,  and  then  two  or 


176    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

three  more.  He  asked  Hugh  what  these  were,  but 
Hugh  had  not  seen  them.  He  proposed  that  they 
should  go  up  to  the  trail  where  the  bear-skin  lay, 
and  from  which  they  could  see  the  carcass  and  the 
birds  that  visited  it.  They  climbed  the  bank  and 
were  hardly  seated  on  the  trail  when  a  small  grey 
bird  pitched  down  out  of  a  pine  tree  on  to  the  car- 
cass,  and  began  to  peck  at  the  meat.  It  was  at  once 
followed  by  two  or  three  others. 

"  Now,  those  birds,"  said  Hugh,  "  are  what  I  call 
meat  hawks ;  some  calls  them  camp  robbers.  I 
expect  they're  a  kind  of  a  winter  bird,  anyhow 
there's  lots  of  them  'round  in  winter;  they're  the 
tamest  creatures  you  ever  see.  I've  seen  it  some- 
times when  I  was  skinning  a  deer,  hung  up,  that 
they'd  'light  on  the  legs  of  the  deer  and  peck  at  the 
meat,  and  sometimes  they'd  flutter  right  down  to 
the  ground  at  my  feet  and  eat  the  scraps  that  fell 
from  my  knife.  They're  dreadful  easy  caught,  too, 
if  anybody  was  to  take  the  trouble,  and  when  you 
catch  'em  they  don't  seem  a  mite  scared,  but  just 
peck  and  fight  and  claw  you  as  if  they  were  as  big 
as  you  are.  There,  that  one,"  he  continued,  as  a 
large  dark  brown  bird  with  a  beautiful  long  crest 
flew  down  to  the  carcass,  "  is  a  kind  of  a  blue  jay,  I 
reckon.  Anyway,  he  looks  some  like  the  blue  jays 
I  used  to  see  back  in  the  States  when  I  was  a  boy, 
except  that  he's  kind  of  brownish  blue  instead  of 
being  light  blue.  Those  camp  robbers  are  afraid  of 
him,  and  they  leave  until  he  gets  through,  but  if  a 
magpie  comes  along,  then  the  blue  jay  leaves,  and 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      177 

of  course  if  a  raven  or  an  eagle  comes,  the  magpie 
has  to  do  the  waiting."  Just  as  he  spoke,  a  queer, 
chippering  noise  was  heard  in  one  of  the  pines,  and 
two  beautiful  magpies,  with  glossy  black  heads  and 
tails  and  white  under  parts,  came  to  the  ground,  and 
after  hopping  gracefully  about  for  a  moment  or  two, 
began  to  feed  on  the  carcass. 

"  Well,'  said  Hugh,  "  we  might  stop  here  all  day, 
watching  these  birds,  but  we'd  better  be  moving. 
We'll  go  back  to  the  horses  another  way,  and,  as 
I've  got  to  pack  this  bear  hide,  you'll  have  to  kill 
an  elk,  if  we  see  any." 

Their  way  back  was  through  beautiful  green  tim- 
ber, free  from  underbrush,  the  ground  being  covered 
with  a  soft  black  mould  of  decaying  pine  needles. 
They  had  been  walking  briskly  for  some  little  time, 
and  Jack  thought  they  must  be  getting  near  the 
horses,  when  suddenly  Hugh  stopped  and  said ; 
"  Son,  look  around  you  and  see  whether  you  see 
anything." 

Jack  thought  there  must  be  something  special  to 
see,  and  looked  carefully  about.  He  could  see  only 
the  green  pines,  their  grey  trunks,  and  the  black 
earth,  sometimes  brightened  by  shafts  of  sunlight 
which  came  through  openings  in  the  green  canopy 
above  them.  After  a  minute  he  said,  "  No,  Hugh, 
I  don't  see  anything." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "there's  something  to  see, 
and  I  expect  it's  something  that  you  never  saw 
before.  Let's  go  on  a  little  way." 

He  stepped  forward,  turning  a  little  to  his  right, 

12 


178    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  walked  up  to  the  foot  of  a  large  tree,  where 
Jack  had  noticed  a  patch  of  sunlight ;  but  when 
they  got  to  the  foot  of  the  tree,  to  his  astonishment 
and  delight,  the  boy  saw  lying  there  a  little  bright 
red,  white  spotted  animal,  which  he  knew  must  be 
a  calf  elk.  It  looked  a  good  deal  like  a  very  young 
fawn,  but  was  three  or  four  times  as  large.  Jack 
was  on  his  knees  beside  it  in  a  moment,  patting  it 
and  smoothing  its  skin,  and  declaring  it  was  the 
prettiest  thing  he  had  ever  seen.  It  lay  there  ab- 
solutely without  motion,  and  as  he  lifted  its  legs  one 
by  one,  and  let  them  go  again,  they  dropped  back 
limp  as  if  the  animal  were  dead. 

"  Well,  son,  I  don't  know  what  we're  going  to  do 
with  this  calf,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  it's  most  too  big  for 
you  to  carry,  and  I  can't  pack  both  the  calf  and  the 
bear  hide.  Do  you  want  to  take  it  with  you  or  to 
leave  it  here?" 

"Oh,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "let's  take  it  along;  I 
think  I  can  carry  it,  and  we  can't  be  very  far  from 
the  horses  now." 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  we  ain't.  I  guess  we'll  man- 
age to  pack  it  to  them,  then  it  will  be  easy  to  get  it 
down  the  hill.  Do  you  think  you  could  carry  it  ? 
Take  it  right  across  your  shoulders,  holding  the 
fore  legs  in  one  hand  and  the  hind  legs  in  the  other. 
I'll  lift  it  up  for  you,  but  I  reckon  it's  too  heavy  for 
you  to  pack  far." 

Jack  took  the  calf  on  his  back,  but,  as  Hugh  had 
said,  it  was  pretty  heavy,  and  before  long  he  had  to 
put  it  down.  Hugh  left  him  there,  watching  the 


HUNTING  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN      179 

calf  and  the  bear-skin,  went  on  to  where  the  horses 
were  and  brought  them  back.  From  behind  his 
saddle  he  took  a  gunny  sack,  in  which  he  put  the 
calf,  cutting  a  hole  in  the  side  through  which  its 
head  protruded,  and  then  tying  the  sack  in  front  of 
Jack's  saddle,  and  putting  the  bear-skin  behind  his 
own,  they  started  for  the  house.  When  they  came 
out  on  the  trail  where  they  could  overlook  the  val- 
ley, they  saw  near  the  ranch  a  great  herd  of  animals, 
and  Hugh  said,  "  Well,  there's  the  horse  roundup 
at  last.  Now  we'll  have  plenty  of  work  for  the  next 
few  days,  cutting  out  these  horses  and  branding  our 
own  colts." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP 

WHEN  Hugh  and  Jack  reached  the  house,  aftef 
putting  the  young  elk  in  a  calf-pen  in  the  stable, 
they  found  a  number  of  strangers  there,  and  all  the 
corrals  seemed  to  be  overflowing  with  horses.  In 
one  some  men  were  still  working,  but  when  the  sup- 
per horn  sounded  all  hands  came  to  the  house. 

The  supper  table  that  night  was  longer  than  it  had 
been  since  Jack  had  been  at  the  ranch.  There  were 
nine  strange  cowboys  there,  all  of  whom,  however, 
seemed  to  be  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Sturgis  and 
Hugh  and  Rube  and  Joe.  Still,  they  were  not  very 
talkative  at  supper,  but  after  it  was  over  and  they 
were  sitting  about  outside  the  house,  smoking,  many 
stories  were  told  of  the  daily  happenings  of  the  last 
two  or  three  weeks  while  they  had  been  gathering 
the  horses.  Jack  would  have  enjoyed  sitting  about 
to  listen  to  this  talk,  but  when  Hugh  suggested  that 
they  should  go  down  to  the  corrals  and  walkthrough 
the  horses,  he  readily  accompanied  him.  In  the 
first  pen  that  they  entered  the  horses  stood  crowded 
so  close  together  that  it  looked  at  first  as  if  they 

could  not  push  their  way  through  them,  but  as  they 
1 80 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       181 

went  on,  the  animals  crowded  to  one  side  and  made 
a  narrow  lane  through  which  they  could  walk.  Two 
months  before,  when  Jack  had  first  come  to  the 
ranch,  it  would  have  made  him  nervous  to  be  so  close 
to  the  heads  and  heels  of  these  wild  horses,  but  now 
he  scarcely  thought  of  it.  Hugh  looked  the  horses 
over  and  talked  about  them  with  the  enthusiasm  of 
a  real  horseman.  He  pointed  out  the  beauties  ol 
this  one  and  that,  and  called  attention  to  one  colt 
after  another,  telling  which  mare  was  its  mother, 
and  having  some  little  story  about  each  one. 

One  of  the  corrals  seemed  to  be  occupied  chiefly 
by  mares  and  colts,  with  some  young  horses,  and  of 
these  a  number  of  the  mares  seemed  to  recognise 
Hugh,  and  pushed  their  way  up  to  him,  reaching 
out  their  noses  to  be  patted,  and  sometimes  thrust, 
ing  their  heads  over  his  shoulder.  He  explained  to 
Jack  that  these  were  old  horses  that  had  been  long 
on  the  place,  and  were  accustomed  to  being  brought 
up  and  held  in  the  corral,  where  they  were  gentled 
and  petted  a  little,  and  that  they  seemed  not  to  for- 
get this,  and  were  always  willing  to  make  friends 
whenever  they  were  brought  up.  He  said,  too,  that 
their  foals  and  yearlings  and  two  and  three-year 
olds,  which  often  all  followed  the  mother,  them- 
selves  grew  gentle  and  liked  to  be  noticed  by  tha 
men,  and  that,  of  course,  animals  that  were  tame 
were  much  more  easily  handled  and  broken  to  sad- 
dle or  to  harness  than  the  wild  colts  that  had  been 
running  on  the  range  all  their  lives. 

Two  or  three  of  the  yearlings  in  this  corral  were 


182    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

cripples,  with  twisted,  misshapen  limbs,  and  Jack 
asked  Hugh  whether  these  would  ever  recover,  and 
if  not,  what  they  were  good  for. 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  they  won't  never  get  well, 
and  they  ain't  worth  nothing.  It's  a  shame  to  use 
colts  so  that  they  break  down  like  that.  That 
comes  of  running  a  little  young  colt  hard  for  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  on  the  roundup.  Of  course 
these  little  fellows  after  they  get  some  strength  can 
travel  pretty  nearly  as  well  as  an  old  horse,  but  if 
you  run  them  too  far  or  too  fast  in  bringing  in  the 
horses,  their  soft,  gristly  little  bones  get  bent  and 
twisted,  and  they  don't  ever  get  straight  again. 
There's  a  heap  of  good  foals  ruined  every  year,  just 
because  a  lot  of  fool  cow  punchers  want  to  get  a 
bunch  of  horses  into  the  corral  in  an  hour  and  a 
half,  when  by  rights  they  ought  to  take  three  hours 
to  do  it  in.  All  them  crippled  yearlings  ought  to  be 
killed,  they're  no  good  now,  and  they'll  never  be 
any  better  than  they  are.  They  just  eat  the  grass 
that  might  support  a  good  horse." 

After  an  hour  or  two  in  the  corrals,  as  it  began  to 
grow  dark,  Hugh  and  Jack  went  back  toward  the 
house.  On  the  way  Jack  stopped  in  at  the  hen- 
house to  look  at  his  setting  hens  and  put  the  covers 
on  the  barrels  in  which  their  nests  were.  As  he  was 
doing  this  he  heard  from  beneath  one  of  the  hens 
a  faint,  peeping  sound,  and  lifting  up  one  wing  he 
saw  beneath  it  the  tiniest  little  duckling  that  he  had 
ever  seen.  It  was  too  dark  to  see  much,  and  he  had 
to  leave  the  hen-house  without  finding  how  many 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       183 

of  his  eggs  had  hatched,  but  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  next  morning,  no  matter  what  happened, 
he  must  prepare  a  coop  for  this  brood  of  ducks. 
When  they  reached  the  house  they  found  that  a 
number  of  the  tired  cowboys  were  already  rolled 
up  in  their  blankets,  and  sleeping.  There  were  four 
in  the  bunk-house,  three  on  the  floor  of  the  dining- 
room,  and  the  others  were  just  taking  their  blankets 
over  to  the  barn,  to  sleep  in  the  soft,  sweet-smelling 
hay.  Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "You'd  better  turn  in, 
too,  son ;  to-morrow  will  begin  pretty  early  in  the 
morning,  and  you  won't  have  any  too  much  time  to 
sleep  if  you  go  to  bed  now." 

It  was  not  yet  light  next  morning  when  Jack 
heard  the  bustle  which  announced  that  all  hands 
were  astir,  and  he  at  once  got  up  and  dressed,  to 
find  himself  only  just  in  time  for  breakfast.  It  was 
plain  daylight  by  the  time  the  meal  was  over,  and 
most  of  the  men  at  once  went  down  to  the  corrals* 
Jack  hurried  down  to  the  hen-house,  but,  on  looking 
at  his  ducks'  eggs,  found  that  only  a  part  of  one 
setting  had  hatched,  and  putting  a  little  food  near 
the  hen's  nest,  he  left  them,  determining  to  post- 
pone the  building  of  his  coop  until  the  following 
day.  He  went  on  down  to  the  corral  and  found 
that  the  men  were  busy  turning  out  the  horses  on  to 
the  prairie,  where  they  were  to  be  herded  by  two 
riders.  Some  of  the  men  had  brought  wood  to  the 
big  round  corral,  and  just  outside  it,  and  close  to 
the  fence,  some  were  kindling  fires,  while  others 
were  chopping  poles  and  logs  into  wood  small 


1 84    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

enough  to  be  used  on  these  fires.  A  great  lot  of 
iron  bars,  four  or  five  feet  long,  stood  against  the 
corral  fence,  and  on  looking  closely  at  these,  Jack 
saw  that  each  had  a  handle  on  one  end  and  an  iron 
letter  on  the  other.  These,  he  supposed,  must  be 
the  branding  irons,  and  these  fires  were  for  heating 
them. 

After  a  time  most  of  the  horses  had  been  turned 
out,  but  a  large  number,  almost  all  of  them  old 
mares,  with  their  colts,  had  been  cut  out  and 
confined  in  a  series  of  pens  that  were  connected  by 
a  gate  with  the  round  corral,  outside  which  the 
fires  were  burning.  By  the  time  these  were  going 
well,  and  the  various  branding  irons  had  been  put  in 
them  to  heat,  three  or  four  of  the  men  drove  into 
the  big  corral  a  bunch  of  thirty  or  forty  mares, 
whose  little  colts  stayed  close  by  their  sides.  Many 
of  these  mares  seemed  quite  wild,  and  all  raced 
around  the  walls  of  the  pen,  as  if  very  much 
frightened.  It  seemed  to  Jack  as  if  these  little 
colts,  some  of  which  hardly  looked  bigger  than  jack 
rabbits,  must  all  be  killed  by  being  stepped  on.  Yet 
each  colt  kept  close  to  its  own  mother's  side,  and  a 
little  bit  under  her,  so  that  it  was  well  protected 
from  being  harmed  by  any  other  mare  that  crowded 
close  upon  it. 

Two  or  three  men  with  ropes  now  entered  the 
corral  and,  as  the  horses  ran  about  them,  each  one 
threw  his  rope  over  a  colt,  and  as  soon  as  the  rope 
caught  a  colt's  neck,  a  couple  of  men  quickly  dragged 
it  out  into  the  middle  of  the  corral,  and  taking  hold 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       185 

of  it,  threw  it  down,  holding  it  so  that  it  should  not 
injure  itself  in  its  struggles ;  then  one  of  the  men 
ran  to  the  fence  and  called  for  a  particular  iron, 
bearing  the  brand  which  showed  on  the  mother  of 
the  colt.  When  this  was  given  him  he  ran  back  to 
where  the  colt  lay  and  carefully  pressed  it  on  its 
shoulder  or  neck  or  hip,  and  held  it  there.  The 
hair  and  skin  hissed  under  the  hot  iron,  a  little 
smoke  arose,  the  colt  tried  to  struggle,  and  then, 
after  the  brand  had  been  properly  placed,  it  was 
allowed  to  spring  to  its  feet  and  to  run  back 
to  the  bunch.  Meantime,  its  mother  had  been 
whinnying,  calling,  and  sometimes  running  out  from 
the  circle  of  the  horses,  almost  up  to  the  men  who 
were  holding  down  her  colt.  When  it  was  freed 
aod  ran  back  to  her,  she  nosed  it  all  over  and  then 
contentedly  took  her  place  with  the  other  old 
mares. 

The  work  of  branding  went  on  rapidly.  Now  and 
then  some  man  would  catch  a  colt  with  too  large  a 
loop,  the  little  animal's  head  and  forequarters  would 
pass  through  it  and  it  would  be  caught  around  the 
body.  When  held  in  this  way  it  was  of  course 
much  harder  to  handle  than  when  caught  by  the 
neck,  and  before  the  men  got  their  hands  on  it,  it 
would  go  through  a  series  of  extraordinary  antics, 
rearing,  plunging,  bucking  and  dancing;  but  at  last 
it  would  be  caught,  thrown  down  and  treated  like 
the  others.  A  man  who  caught  a  colt  in  this 
fashion  was  much  laughed  at  by  the  other  cowboys 
and  advised  to  take  lessons  in  roping.  As  soon  as 


186    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

all  the  colts  in  the  corral  had  been  branded,  the 
horses  there  were  turned  out  and  a  fresh  lot  of 
mares  and  colts  brought  in.  All  through  the 
morning  this  went  on.  Jack,  though  at  first  he  sat 
on  the  top  rail  of  the  corral  and  watched,  was  soon 
called  down  from  his  lofty  perch  and  set  to  work 
For  some  time  he  passed  the  hot  irons  in  to  the 
men  who  were  doing  the  branding,  then  he  was  sent 
to  get  more  wood,  and  afterwards  for  a  bucket  of 
water.  The  cowboys  were  all  good-natured  and 
very  friendly  with  him,  and  chaffed  him  as  he  ran 
here  and  there,  trying  to  carry  out  their  orders. 

After  dinner  the  work  continued,  and  one  thing 
happened  that  made  Jack  feel  badly.  A  little  colt, 
frightened  at  something,  had  run  a  few  steps  in 
front  of  its  mother,  as  all  the  horses  were  racing 
about  the  pen,  and  just  as  the  rope  caught  its  neck, 
it  stopped.  The  mother,  lumbering  along  behind 
it,  tripped  over  the  tightened  rope  and  fell  on  the 
colt,  and  when  it  got  up  one  of  its  fore-legs  swung 
loose. 

"  There's  a  dead  colt,"  said  one  of  the  men,  and 
in  a  minute  they  caught  it  and  threw  it  down. 

Then  one  of  the  older  men  took  the  hurt  leg  and 
moved  it  backward  and  forward,  while  he  held  his 
ear  close  to  the  animars  shoulder. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  its  shoulder  is  smashed,  I  can 
hear  the  bones  grate.  Hand  me  that  hatchet, 
Jim." 

The  hatchet  was  passed  to  him,  and  he  struck  the 
little  colt  twice  with  it  in  the  head,  and  two  of  the 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       187 

men  carried  the  carcass  to  the  fence  and  passed  it 
through.  Jack  did  not  understand  this,  which  had 
happened  so  quickly,  and  asked  Hugh,  who  hap- 
pened  to  be  standing  near  him,  why  they  killed  the 
colt. 

"  Why,"  said  Hugh,  "  when  the  mare  fell  on  it 
she  broke  its  shoulder,  and  it  couldn't  never  have 
got  well,  in  fact,  it  couldn't  even  have  followed  its 
mother  around,  it  would  just  have  had  to  suffer  for 
a  few  days  and  then  die  ;  so  of  course  it  was  better 
to  kill  it  now." 

"  What  a  pity  !  "  said  Jack,  as  he  looked  at  the 
pretty  little  animal  lying  at  his  feet,  whose  eyes 
were  already  glazing.  "  Wasn't  there  any  way  to 
have  cured  it  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  not,  and  it  would 
have  cost  more  to  try  to  cure  it  than  it  could  ever 
have  been  worth ;  I  expect  it  was  better  to  kill  it 
off  right  now." 

When  supper  time  had  come  that  night,  all  the 
colts  had  been  branded,  and  orders  were  given  that 
after  Mr.  Sturgis's  horses  had  been  cut  out  of  the 
bunch,  next  morning,  the  roundup  should  move  on. 

After  supper  that  night,  Jack  sat  down  near  three 
or  four  of  the  cowboys  who  were  smoking  their 
pipes  and  cigarettes  by  the  corner  of  the  house,  and 
listened  to  their  talk.  One  of  them  seemed  to  be 
telling  a  story. 

"  I  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  it  was  about  the  funniest 
thing  I  ever  saw.  You  see,  we'd  run  the  bear  may 
be  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  two  or  three  of  us  had  put 


188    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

our  ropes  on  him,  but  he  always  managed  to  slip 
out.  It  was  a  pretty  hot  day,  and  his  tongue  was 
hangin'  out  about  a  yard,  and  toward  the  end  he 
was  pretty  mad,  and  when  we  got  close,  he'd  turn 
round  and  charge  back  on  us.  One  time  when  he 
did  this  he  passed  pretty  close  to  Mat,  who  was  on 
a  slow  horse,  and  Mat  managed  to  catch  him  by  the 
hind  leg,  and  the  rope  stayed  ;  but  when  Mat  tried 
to  hold  him,  the  bear  turned  round  and  charged, 
and  Mat  got  kind  o*  scared,  and  just  turned  the  rope 
loose  from  his  saddle  and  ran,  and  the  bear  went  on. 
Well,  pretty  quick,  we  came  to  a  little  pile  of 
rocks,  with  three  or  four  cedars  growing  around 
them,  and  the  bear  stopped  at  these  rocks  and 
wouldn't  run  no  further.  We  run  up  pretty  close 
to  him  and  tried  to  rope  him,  but  he  was  sort  o'  half 
under  the  rocks  and  we  couldn't  catch  him.  He 
had  Mat's  rope  on  his  hind  leg  yet,  and  it  was  lying 
out  on  the  prairie,  and  we  commenced  to  make  fun 
of  Mat,  and  to  tell  him  to  ride  in  there  and  pick  up 
his  rope  and  drag  the  bear  out,  but  of  course  we 
didn't  expect  he'd  try  to  do  no  such  fool  thing  as 
that,  but  we  kept  on  making  fun  of  him,  and  the 
first  thing  we  knew  he  started  to  ride  by  the  bear 
and  pick  up  his  rope.  When  he  got  right  close,  just 
as  he  was  goin*  to  stoop  for  the  rope,  there  comes 
the  bear  sailing  out  after  him,  and  lookin'  mighty 
savage,  I  tell  ye.  He  turned  his  old  horse  and  run, 
and  the  bear  run,  and  when  he  looked  around  and 
saw  the  bear  not  very  far  off,  he  rode  his  horse 
under  one  of  them  cedar  trees,  and  just  reached  up 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       189 

and  caught  hold  of  a  branch  and  curled  up  over  it, 
and  his  horse  ran  on,  and  he  went  climbing  on  to- 
ward the  top  of  the  tree.  We  just  set  there  on  our 
horses  and  laughed  at  Mat,  so  long  and  so  hard  that 
the  bear  ran  on  and  went  plumb  out  of  the  country, 
carrying  Mat's  rope,  and  we  never  see  him  again." 

Soon  after  the  sun  rose  next  morning  Mr.  Sturgis's 
horses  were  being  cut  out  of  the  bunch  and  turned 
into  one  of  the  big  corrals,  and  by  ten  o'clock  the 
horse  roundup  had  started  on  its  way  again,  and  all 
the  strangers  with  it. 

That  afternoon  Hugh  and  Jack  busied  themselves 
making  a  pen  for  the  little  ducks,  all  of  which  had 
now  hatched  out.  Each  of  the  old  hens  was  put  in 
a  coop,  which  stood  at  opposite  corners  of  the  pen, 
and  boards  standing  on  their  sides  made  a  fence  and 
prevented  the  newly  hatched  birds  from  wandering 
away,  yet  gave  them  a  little  space  of  grass,  over 
which  they  could  walk  and  feed.  Jack  had  never 
seen  such  little  bits  of  ducklings  as  some  of  these 
were,  and  Hugh  told  him  that  he  thought  they 
must  be  teal.  After  the  pen  was  finished  he  spent 
some  little  time  catching  small  grasshoppers,  which 
he  threw  to  the  birds,  and  it  was  comical  to  see  the 
excitement  which  they  showed  and  the  way  in  which 
they  fought  over  this  food. 

They  also  gave  a  lesson  to  the  little  calf  elk.  Up 
to  this  time  it  had  paid  no  attention  to  them,  but 
had  wandered  about  its  pen  with  slow  steps,  con- 
stantly looking  for  a  place  to  get  out.  Now,  how- 
ever, when  Jack  reached  his  hand  over  to  pat  it,  it 


190    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

caught  the  sleeve  of  his  shirt  in  its  mouth  and 
chewed  it  a  little,  and  when  he  put  his  hand  near  to 
its  nose,  it  tried  to  take  the  whole  hand  into  its 
mouth. 

"  Oh,"  said  Hugh,  "  that  fellow's  getting  hungry ; 
he's  about  ready  to  drink  now.  Put  your  fingers  in 
his  mouth  and  I'll  go  and  get  some  milk  and  we'll 
teach  him  how  to  drink." 

Hugh  went  up  to  the  house,  and  soon  returned 
with  a  small  pail,  holding  about  a  pint  of  warm 
milk.  "  Now,"  he  said  to  Jack,  "  get  inside  the  pen 
and  hold  the  can  in  your  left  hand,  and  then  lower 
the  hand  he's  sucking  until  it's  in  the  milk,  so  that 
he'll  draw  some  milk  into  his  mouth  when  he  sucks." 
Jack  did  so,  and  as  soon  as  the  calf  began  to  taste 
the  milk  it  showed  quite  a  little  excitement,  shaking 
its  body  and  pushing  with  its  head  against  the  can, 
and  pretty  soon  it  pushed  so  hard  that  it  almost 
knocked  the  can  out  of  Jack's  hand,  and  spilt  most 
of  the  milk.  He  kept  up  the  work  until  the  calf  had 
drunk  all  the  milk  in  the  pail,  but  it  was  not  nearly 
satisfied,  and  bawled  after  Jack  as  he  went  out  of 
the  barn. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  we  must  give  it  another 
drink  before  supper,  and  then  another  just  before 
dark.  Just  as  soon  as  we  can  learn  it  to  drink  it 
will  be  perfectly  tame,  and  you  can  turn  it  out  to 
wander  around  the  house.  You'll  have  to  watch  it, 
though,  for  if  it  goes  off  a  little  way  from  the  house 
the  coyotes  are  liable  to  catch  it.  Fact  is,  I  think 
we'd  better  make  a  little  corral  for  it,  out  in  the 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP       191 

brush,  and  leave  it  out  there  days  where  it  can  get 
plenty  of  sunlight  and  learn  how  to  pick  grass  a 
little,  and  then  shut  it  up  here  every  night  where 
it  will  be  safe.  It  will  be  tame  though,  from  now 
on." 

As  they  were  going  up  to  the  house,  Hugh  said, 
"  Well,  I  expect  you'll  be  ready  to  see  Tony  go  at 
the  broncs  to-morrow  morning.  I  heard  your  uncle 
say  we'd  start  in  the  first  thing  in  the  morning." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  that's  some- 
thing I  want  very  much  to  see,  and  I  expect  to  have 
a  lot  of  fun.  Do  you  suppose  any  of  those  wild 
horses  will  throw  Tony  ?  " 

"  It's  hard  to  say,"  replied  Hugh  ;  "  he's  an  awful 
good  rider,  and  I  don't  expect  he  gets  thrown  very 
often,  but  every  man  that  follows  bronco  busting  is 
liable  to  get  thrown  and  killed  every  time  he  gets  on 
a  wild  horse.  I've  ridden  plenty  of  wild  horses  in 
my  time,  but  I  don't  ride  no  more.  It's  boy's  work, 
that's  what  it  is." 

"  I  am  going  up  to  take  another  look  at  the  little 
ducks,  Hugh,"  said  Jack ;  and  he  went  on  toward 
the  pen.  In  a  minute  Hugh  heard  his  name  called 
loudly,  and  went  on  up  toward  the  duck  pen. 

"  Oh,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  as  he  drew  near,  "  some- 
thing's killed  three  of  those  littlest  ducks  already, 
and  here  is  blood  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  coops. 
What  can  it  be  ?  " 

Hugh  looked  about  and  apparently  saw  no  sign, 
but  in  a  moment  he  lifted  his  finger  to  call  Jack's 
attention,  and  stood  listening.  Jack  heard  faintly 


192    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

a  bird's  call,  which  sounded  familiar,  but  at  first  he 
could  not  think  where  he  had  heard  it. 

"  That's  what  it  is,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  them  durned 
magpies  have  found  these  ducks,  and  now  they'll 
kill  them  all,  unless  we  kill  them.  You  stop  here  a 
minute  or  two  while  I  go  to  the  house  and  get  your 
uncle's  shot-gun  and  your  rifle,  and  we'll  see  if  we 
can't  ambush  them  fellows." 

Jack  felt  very  badly  as  he  stood  there  waiting ; 
three  of  these  dear  little  ducks  had  gone  in  an  hour ; 
at  this  rate  they  would  not  last  very  long.  Pres- 
ently Hugh  came  back  with  the  gun,  and,  giving 
Jack  his  rifle,  he  loaded  the  shot  gun,  and  they  sat 
down  in  the  bushes  not  far  from  the  pen. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  them  magpies  will  be  back 
pretty  quick,  and  we'll  have  to  lie  here  right  quiet. 
If  you  get  a  chance  at  one  sitting  on  a  branch,  kill 
him,  and  I'll  try  to  take  any  others  that  may  be 
there,  as  they  fly  away.  There  may  be  only  one  or 
two  of  them,  and  if  we  kill  them  and  hang  them  up 
around  the  pen,  that'll  likely  scare  off  any  other, 
that  may  come." 

They  had  not  been  waiting  more  than  a  few 
moments  before  they  heard  the  magpies  calling  not 
far  off,  and  presently  one,  almost  at  once  followed 
by  two  others,  appeared  in  the  branches  of  one  of 
the  aspens  close  to  the  ducks'  pen.  They  peered 
down  at  it  curiously,  and  Jack,  seizing  a  moment 
when  one  of  them  stood  still,  fired,  and  the 
bird  dropped.  The  other  two  rose  in  the  air,  but 
Hugh,  standing  up,  shot  first  one  and  then  the 


WITH  THE  HORSE  ROUNDUP        193 

other,  and  both  fell  into  the  bushes.  Hugh  got 
three  long  sticks  and,  sharpening  an  end  of  each, 
stuck  them  in  the  ground  about  the  pen,  and  to 
each  one  tied  one  of  the  dead  magpies,  which  swung 
to  and  fro  in  the  breeze,  and  would  be  likely  to  act 
as  scarecrows  to  any  others  that  might  come. 
'3 


CHAPTER  XIX 

BUSTING    BRONCOS 

AFTER  breakfast  next  morning,  Jack  hurried  down 
to  the  corrals  and  climbed  up  on  the  fence,  whence 
he  could  see  all  that  was  going  on.  Crowded  in  one 
corner  of  the  large  corral  stood  the  horses,  most  of 
them  with  heads  down  and  dull  and  sleepy  looks. 
Rube  and  Joe  were  in  the  stables,  saddling  the 
ponies  that  they  were  to  ride,  and  as  Mr.  Sturgis 
and  Hugh  came  down  from  the  house,  the  two  boys 
led  their  horses  up  near  the  gate  of  the  smaller  round 
corral  and  tied  them  to  the  fence.  Soon  all  the 
men  entered  the  round  corral,  the  gate  between  that 
and  the  large  corral  was  opened  and  two  of  the  men 
went  toward  one  end  of  the  bunch  of  horses.  A 
wild  bay  colt  started  to  run  away  from  them,  and 
the  other  horses  tried  to  follow  it,  but  Rube  ran 
forward,  headed  them  off  and  turned  them  back,  so 
that  all  except  the  bay  remained  huddled  in  the 
corner.  This  one  trotted  swiftly  along  close  to  the 
corral  fence  until  he  reached  the  open  gate  leading 
into  the  smaller  corral.  He  turned  into  that  and 
the  men  ran  forward,  passed  through  and  shut  the 

104 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  195 

gate.  The  bay  horse  trotted  swiftly  several  times 
about  the  corral  and  made  a  pretty  picture.  He 
held  his  head  high  and  his  ears  forward ;  his  neck 
was  arched,  his  coat  shone  in  the  sun  and  his  long 
black  tail  was  spread  out  behind  him,  and  almost 
swept  the  ground.  He  was  a  real  beauty.  Sud. 
denly  Joe  stepped  forward  with  a  rope  in  his  hand 
and  swung  the  loop  about  his  head,  and  as  he  did 
so  the  horse,  frightened,  broke  into  a  gallop.  In  a 
moment  the  loop  of  the  rope  flew  out,  not  toward 
the  horse's  head,  as  Jack  had  expected,  but  toward  the 
ground  in  front  of  it.  Joe's  hand  was  thrown  up  in 
the  air  and  in  a  moment  the  young  horse  was  stand- 
ing on  his  hind  legs  pawing  the  air  with  fore  feet, 
which  were  held  together  by  the  rope,  while  Joe, 
and  in  a  moment  Hugh  and  Rube,  were  pulling 
back  on  it  with  all  their  might.  It  had  all  happened 
so  quickly  that  Jack  did  not  at  all  understand  how 
it  had  been  done. 

If  the  young  horse  had  been  frightened  before,  he 
was  terrified  now.  In  vain  he  strove  to  free  himself 
from  this  rope  which  was  gripping  his  fore  feet 
and  holding  them  tightly  together.  He  reared 
again  and  again  on  his  hind  legs,  walking  on  them 
and  striking  with  his  forefeet  ;  then  he  came  down 
on  all  fours  and  tried  to  run,  but  still  he  was  held 
fast.  For  a  moment  or  two  he  flew  about  with  his 
head  toward  the  men,  but  at  length  he  turned  his 
side  toward  them,  and  as  they  pulled  on  the  rope, 
he  lost  his  balance  and  fell  heavily  on  the  soft  dust 
which  covered  the  ground.  The  men  kept  the  rope 


196    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

taut,  and  Rube,  letting  go,  ran  swiftly  to  the  ani« 
mal's  head  and  sat  on  it.  The  others  ran  around 
to  the  horse's  feet,  pulled  back  the  front  ones,  cast 
a  loop  of  the  rope  around  the  hind  ones  and  drew 
them  forward,  and  in  a  moment  all  four  feet  were 
tied  together,  and  the  men,  breathing  a  little  quickly 
from  the  exertion,  stood  back  and  looked  at  him. 

"  He's  a  nice  one,"  said  Hugh. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rube,  "  he's  a  good  'un.  He'll  make 
you  hunt  timber,  Tony,  you  bet." 

"  Maybe  ; "  said  Antonio,  who  had  just  come  from 
the  stable  carrying  on  one  arm  his  saddle,  blanket, 
hackamore  and  quirt.  He  wore  his  spurs  and  about 
each  thigh  was  tied  a  buckskin  wrapper  which  en- 
veloped the  whole  leg  above  the  knee.  The  horse, 
after  some  ineffectual  struggles,  lay  still,  breathing 
heavily,  and  with  the  sweat  starting  from  his  skin. 

Jack  had  by  this  time  jumped  down  from  the 
fence  and  approached  the  group  of  men. 

"  Keep  behind  him,  son,  and  near  his  head  ;  then 
he  can't  kick  you,  even  if  he  does  get  his  feet  free," 
said  Hugh. 

"  Why  does  Rube  sit  on  his  head,  Hugh  ?  "  asked 
Jack. 

"  So's  to  keep  him  from  getting  up,"  was  the  re- 
ply. "  Don't  you  know  that  if  a  horse  is  lying  on  his 
side,  he  can't  get  up  unless  he  raises  his  head  first. 
So  when  you  throw  a  horse,  if  you  don't  want  him 
to  get  up,  just  sit  on  his  head." 

While  they  were  talking,  Joe  had  spread  the  hack* 
amore,  and  in  a  moment  the  horse's  head  had  been 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  197 

lifted  from  the  ground  and  the  hackamore  slipped 
over  it.  Then  the  blind — a  strip  of  black  leather- 
was  tied  to  the  cheek  pieces  of  the  hackamore  on 
each  side,  completely  covering  the  horse's  eyes. 

"  Turn  him  loose  now,  boys,  and  let  him  get  up," 
said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  and  we'll  see  if  we  can  get  him 
out  of  the  gate." 

The  rope  was  quickly  cast  off  the  feet,  and  another 
put  around  the  neck,  and  the  horse,  as  soon  as  he 
felt  that  he  was  free,  stood  up,  but  as  the  blind 
entirely  covered  his  eyes,  he  could  see  nothing  and 
stood  perfectly  still.  For  a  few  moments  Antonio 
worked  about  him,  first  going  to  his  head  and  taking 
his  muzzle  in  both  hands  while  he  breathed  several 
times  into  the  horse's  nostrils,  then  patting  him  and 
smoothing  his  skin  on  neck,  shoulders,  and  body 
on  both  sides.  At  first  the  horse  flinched  each  time 
the  man's  hand  touched  him,  but  as  Antonio  spoke 
soothingly  to  him,  and  he  found  that  he  was  not 
hurt,  he  seemed  to  grow  used  to  the  handling  and 
to  be  less  frightened. 

Then  Antonio  said :  "  Pretty  quick  I  goin*  raise 
blind.  Maybe  you  lead  him  out  gate." 

With  more  soothing  words  he  worked  around  to 
the  horse's  head,  shoved  him  about  so  that  his  head 
was  toward  the  gate,  and  pushed  the  blind  up  a 
little  so  that  the  animal  could  see  the  ground  at  his 
feet.  One  of  the  boys  slapped  the  horse's  quarters 
with  a  rope  and  it  made  a  plunge  or  two  forward, 
which  carried  it  through  the  gate,  where  it  stood  still 
again,  and  Antonio  pushed  down  the  blind,  looking 


198    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

carefully  at  it  to  see  that  the  animal's  eyes  were 
entirely  covered. 

"  Why  doesn't  he  move  when  his  eyes  are  covered, 
Hugh?"  said  Jack.  "I  know  he  can't  see,  but  I 
should  think  he  would  kick  and  plunge  even  if  ha 
did  nothing  else." 

"  Well  now,  son,"  said  Hugh  slowly,  "  I  want  you 
to  think  a  little  bit  and  see  if  you  can't  answer  that 
question  yourself.  Of  course  you  don't  know  much 
about  this  country  or  its  ways,  but  I  shouldn't  think 
you  would  have  to  ask  that  question.  Just  you 
think  about  it  till  we  git  this  horse  started,  and  then 
I'll  talk  to  you  about  it." 

Meantime  Antonio  had  again  been  patting  the 
horse,  and  at  length  had  taken  his  saddle  blanket 
and  held  it  under  the  horse's  nose  so  that  he  might 
smell  it.  Then  he  rubbed  the  blanket  along  the 
neck  on  both  sides,  on  the  withers  and  flanks,  laid 
it  over  the  neck  and  pushed  it  down  on  the  back. 
The  horse  flinched  and  snorted  whenever  the 
blanket  touched  him  in  a  new  place,  but  seemed 
quickly  to  lose  his  fear  and  stood  still.  Soon  An- 
tonio began  to  whip  the  horse  with  the  blanket  all 
over.  Then  he  folded  the  blanket  and  tossed  it 
lightly  on  the  horse's  back.  The  animal  flinched 
again  with  a  sidewise  motion  and  groaned,  but 
Antonio  patted  it,  and  the  blanket  remained  there. 
One  of  the  boys  went  to  the  off  side  and  held  the 
blanket  in  place,  and  in  a  moment  Antonio  came  up 
with  the  saddle,  which  he  placed  on  the  blanket,  the 
man  on  the  off  side  letting  down  the  stirrup  and  the 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  199 

cinch  gently,  so  as  to  frighten  the  horse  as  little  as 
possible.  Antonio  cautiously  reached  under  the 
belly,  caught  the  cinch,  and,  passing  the  latigo 
through  the  rings,  by  a  slow  pull  drew  it  tightly 
against  the  belly.  As  the  horse  felt  the  relentless 
tightening  of  the  broad  band  it  squealed  in  fright 
and  kicked  viciously  at  first  with  both  hind  feet  and 
then  with  each  separately,  but  its  fore  feet  did  not 
leave  the  ground. 

"  Goin'  to  tie  the  stirrups,  Tony  ?  "  said  Joe. 

"  No,  dees  hawse  quiet.  You  see ; "  was  the  reply, 
as  Antonio  gathered  up  the  reins  of  the  hackamore 
and  put  his  foot  in  the  stirrup.  He  raised  himself 
slowly  until  his  full  weight  rested  on  it,  and  though 
at  first  the  horse  yielded  he  made  no  move,  and  the 
rider  threw  his  leg  over  the  saddle  and  settled  him- 
self firmly  in  the  seat.  Joe  and  Rube  ran  to  their 
horses  and  mounted  and  took  a  position  on  either 
side  and  a  little  behind  Antonio,  and  so  close  to  him 
that  they  could  reach  his  horse  with  their  whips. 
Then  Antonio  reached  slowly  forward  on  either  side 
the  bay  colt's  head,  pushed  up  the  blind,  sat  back  in 
the  saddle  and,  with  a  wild  yell,  brought  down  the 
quirt  on  the  horse's  flank.  The  yell  was  echoed  by 
the  hazers  on  either  side,  and  they  plied  their  quirts. 
The  horse,  blinded  and  confused  by  the  sudden  light, 
the  noise  and  the  pain,  gave  a  few  wild  plunges,  and 
then  he  realised  that  the  first  thing  he  must  do  was 
to  get  rid  of  the  terrible  weight  that  was  bearing 
him  down  and  crushing  in  his  sides.  He  lowered 
his  head,  arched  his  back,  and  putting  his  feet  to- 


200    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

gether  began  to  shoot  into  the  air  and  come  down 
stiff  legged.  At  this  the  yells  and  the  whipping  of 
the  hazers  increased,  and  the  group  of  onlookers  by 
the  corral  shouted  laughter  and  cheers  for  horse  and 
man.  The  bucking  lasted  only  for  a  short  time,  and 
soon  the  horse,  forced  to  it  by  the  quirting,  started 
off  in  a  swift  run  over  the  prairie.  The  hazers  fol- 
lowed him  for  half  a  mile,  to  see  that  he  was  going 
well,  and  then,  stopping  on  a  little  hill,  continued  to 
watch  him.  Meantime,  Mr.  Sturgis,  Jack  and  Hugh 
went  into  the  corral  again,  cut  out  another  horse 
and  put  it  in  the  round  corral.  Then  Jack,  and  Hugh 
went  outside  and  sat  on  the  ground  in  the  sun,  with 
their  backs  against  the  corral  fence,  and  Hugh  filled 
his  pipe  and  smoked.  When  Hugh's  pipe  was 
going,  Jack  said: 

"  Now,  Hugh,  I  wish  you'd  tell  me  why  the  horse 
stands  still  when  he's  blindfolded.  He  didn't  stand 
quite  still  all  the  time  though,  for  he  kicked  like  the 
mischief  when  they  were  saddling  him,  and  how  he 
jumped  when  Antonio  pushed  the  blind  off." 

"  Well  now,  son,  ain't  you  thought  that  out  yet  ?  " 
replied  Hugh.  "  I  expect  I'll  have  to  tell  you  then. 
It's  so  that  the  colt  kicked  when  he  felt  the  cinch 
gripping  him,  but  you  took  notice,  I  expect,  that 
his  front  feet  never  left  the  ground.  He  didn't 
move  out  of  his  tracks,  even  if  he  did  let  out  with 
his  heels. 

"  Now,  I  want  you  to  listen  to  what  I  have  to  say, 
and  think  about  it,  for  it  may  help  you  some  time 
to  see  for  yourself  other  things  that  seem  blind,  and 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  201 

save  you  asking  questions  that  might  make  people 
think  you  didn't  know  nothing.  Now,  here's  this 
yer  horse,"  he  continued,  waving  his  pipe  toward 
the  prairie,  "  he's  a  four-year-old,  as  I  told  you,  born 
and  raised  on  the  prairie,  likely  never  had  a  rope  on 
more'n  once  in  his  life,  maybe  driven  up  here  once 
a  year  with  the  roundup.  But  all  his  life  he's  been 
running  free ;  he's  wild.  All  his  life  he's  depended 
on  his  eyes  and  nose  to  tell  him  what's  dangerous, 
and  on  his  legs  to  take  him  away  from  it.  All  this 
time  he's  been  able  to  use  these  things.  There 
never  was  a  night  so  dark  that  he  couldn't  use  'em 
all.  Now,  all  of  a  sudden  his  legs  are  tied  up  so  he 
can't  run,  a  hackamore  is  put  round  his  nose  so  he 
can't  hardly  smell  nor  breathe,  and  his  eyes  are  shut 
up  so  it's  all  black  to  him  ;  he  can't  see  nothing. 
He's  so  scared  that  he  don't  know  what  to  do. 
Even  when  his  legs  is  free  he  still  can't  see  nothing, 
and  he  knows  he  can't  travel  without  his  eyes  ;  he's 
had  falls  enough  when  he  was  a  colt  to  know  that  a 
horse  needs  eyes  to  run  with.  So  it  is  that  he 
stands  still.  It's  the  same  with  an  old  horse.  If 
you  want  to  put  anything  on  him  that  he  don't  like 
to  carry,  just  blind  him,  and  he'll  stand  still  till  the 
blind's  taken  off." 

"  I  never  thought  of  that,  Hugh,  that  a  horse  can 
see  in  the  dark,  but  the  dark  even  of  a  dark  night 
must  be  very  different  from  a  blind." 

"  It  sure  is,"  replied  Hugh.  "  Hello,  there  come? 
Tony  and  the  horse  ;  mighty  quiet  too." 

The  horse  as  it  drew  near  was  seen  to  be  white 


202    JACK.  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

with  lather  on  its  breast  and  neck,  and  dripping 
with  sweat  over  its  whole  body.  It  trotted  along 
slowly  and  the  fight  was  all  gone  out  of  it.  Every 
now  and  then  it  would  bore  with  its  head,  or  would 
try  to  turn  off  to  one  side,  but  the  firm  hand  of  the 
rider  always  brought  its  head  around  again,  and 
it  trotted  on  toward  the  corral.  Arrived  there, 
Antonio  reached  forward  and  pulled  the  blind  down 
over  its  eyes,  and  then  springing  from  the  saddle, 
began  to  take  it  off.  One  of  the  boys  put  a  rope 
about  the  horse's  neck  and  then  pulled  the  long  hair 
of  the  tail  out,  to  show  that  it  had  been  ridden,  and 
it  was  led  to  the  big  corral  and  turned  loose  with 
the  wild  horses. 

The  boys  joked  Antonio  about  the  horse,  but  he 
only  smiled  and  answered  that  the  horse  was  too 
gentle. 

This  could  not  be  said  of  the  next  one,  however, 
a  big  iron-grey,  which  fought  from  the  moment  it 
felt  the  rope  on  its  forefeet.  It  was  quiet  while  it 
was  being  saddled,  but  as  soon  as  the  blind  was 
raised,  it  went  into  a  perfect  fury  of  squealing,  buck- 
ing, kicking,  and  fighting.  None  of  this  stirred 
Antonio  from  his  seat,  but  two  or  three  times  the 
animal  reared  up  so  straight  that  those  who  were 
watching  involuntarily  called,  "  Look  out,"  and  saw 
the  rider  grasp  the  saddle  horn  and  loosen  one  foot 
from  the  stirrup,  prepared  to  slip  off  if  the  horse  fell 
over  backward.  At  length,  however,  urged  on  by 
the  hazers,  it  started  off  and  ran  half  a  mile  and  then 
stopping  short,  again  began  to  buck  furiously,  but 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  203 

soon  started  on  again  and  disappeared  over  the  hills, 
the  hazers  close  behind. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  Antonio  returned,  with 
the  boys  still  riding  behind  him,  and  horse  and  man 
both  seemed  tired  by  the  fierce  battle  that  they  had 
been  through,  but,  though  exhausted  by  the  strug- 
gle, the  horse's  eye  rolled  fiercely,  while  the  rider's 
face  was  stern  and  set  and  his  hand  firm  as  he 
guided  the  big  grey  up  to  the  corral  gate. 

"  Well,  Tony,"  called  out  Hugh,  "that's  a  hard 
one.  He'll  need  a  heap  of  riding  yet,  before  he's 
right  gentle." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply,  "  he  big  strong  hawse ; 
shake  me  pretty  hard  when  he  comin*  down ;  pitch 
all  different  ways.  Maybe  some  time  he  get  me 
off." 

The  next  horse  was  a  contrast  to  both  the  others. 
After  he  had  been  blinded  and  untied,  he  would  not 
stand  up  until  he  had  been  hit  hard  with  the  rope, 
and  after  being  saddled  and  mounted  he  would  not 
move,  and  when  quirted  he  just  stood  still  and 
grunted.  After  ten  minutes  of  vain  effort  to  start 
him,  Antonio  declared  that  he  had  never  before  seen 
a  horse  like  this  one,  and  that  it  was  fit  only  for  a 
pack  horse.  The  animal  was  unsaddled  and  taken 
to  another  corral,  where  a  pack  saddle  was  cinched 
on  him,  and  he  was  left  to  spend  the  day  there 
alone. 

All  through  the  day  the  work  of  breaking  went 
on,  and  all  day  Jack  sat  on  the  corral  bars  and 
watched  it,  and  at  night  when  supper  time  came, 


204    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

Antonio  acknowledged  to  Jack,  who  asked  him  the 
question,  that  he  was  pretty  tired. 

"It's  hard  work,"  said  Hugh,  "almighty  hard, 
and  slow.  It's  slower  here  than  most  places,  but 
we  get  a  heap  better  horses,  breaking  'em  this  way 
— kinder  gentling  'em  the  way  you  saw  before  we 
put  the  saddle  on.  Ef  there  was  time  to  do  it,  and 
there  wan't  so  many  horses,  they'd  all  ought  to  be 
gentled  from  colts  up.  No  trouble  to  break  'em 
that  way,  and  never  no  horses  spoiled  like  they  is 
this  way.  Now  you  take  that  grey  this  morning; 
ef  he  ain't  handled  just  so,  he's  going  to  be  a  regular 
devil.  But  Tony  here  is  an  awful  good  rider,  and 
he's  got  a  good  disposition  too,  and  I  reckon  he'll 
bring  the  grey  through  all  right." 

The  work  of  gentling  the  horses  went  on  day 
after  day  for  a  week  or  more,  and  Jack  never  wearied 
of  watching  the  work.  The  patience  shown  by 
Antonio  in  handling  the  horses  surprised  him,  for 
he  had  noticed  that  Joe  and  Rube  sometimes  got 
angry  at  the  horses  they  rode,  and  swore  at  them 
and  lashed  them  with  their  ropes.  He  asked  his 
uncle  why  there  was  such  a  difference. 

"  I  always  thought  Mexicans  got  angry  easily, 
but  Tony  never  seems  to.  I  should  think  some- 
times he'd  get  mad." 

"  Tony  has  good  judgment,"  said  his  uncle,  "  and 
that's  the  reason  I  have  him  ride  these  colts.  It  is 
very  easy  to  spoil  any  horse  by  fighting  with  him, 
and  if  he  comes  to  look  on  a  man  as  his  enemy,  he 
will  never  be  worth  much.  I  have  these  horses 


BUSTING  BRONCOS  205 

broken  as  gently  as  I  can,  and  I  find  that  people 
are  willing  to  pay  me  more  for  a  saddle  horse  than 
they  pay  people  who  just  break  their  horses  any 
way  at  all.  It  is  profitable  to  use  care  in  breaking 
horses." 


CHAPTER  XX 
A  TRIP  TO  SMITH'S  HOLE 

SOME  weeks  passed.  The  work  of  the  ranch 
went  on.  Jack  was  now  becoming  a  useful  member 
of  the  society  there,  for  he  had  come  to  feel  so 
much  at  home  that  there  were  many  things  that  he 
could  do  about  the  place.  Every  day  he  gained 
more  confidence  in  himself  and  it  was  no  longer 
thought  necessary  that  he  should  have  some  one 
with  him  when  he  rode  out  away  from  the  ranch 
on  the  prairie.  One  night  his  uncle  had  suggested 
that  he  should  go  out  and  bring  in  the  milk  cows, 
and  he  did  so,  and  after  this  it  became  his  regular 
duty  to  look  for  them,  if  they  did  not  come  up  to 
the  corral  to  be  milked  at  night.  A  little  later  Joe 
had  asked  him  one  morning  to  go  out  and  bring  in 
the  saddle  horses,  which  were  feeding  high  up  in 
the  mountain,  but  could  be  seen  from  the  house. 
He  did  so,  and  after  a  few  days  this  became  a  part 
of  his  regular  work.  For  such  riding  as  this  he  did 
not  use  Pawnee,  but  rode,  instead,  old  Grey,  or  the 
Pilot,  or  any  one  of  three  or  four  other  gentle  horses 
that  were  always  close  about  the  ranch.  He  re- 
membered Hugh's  advice,  given  to  him  soon  after 

206 


A  1R1P  TO  SMITH'S  HOLE  207 

he  had  come  out,  and  always  carried  his  gun  with 
him.  During  these  rides  he  had  killed  two  coyotes 
and  a  badger,  the  skins  of  which  he  had  taken  off 
and  stretched  quite  nicely,  under  Hugh's  direction. 
He  had  had  two  or  three  chances  to  shoot  antelope, 
too,  but  always  close  to  the  house,  and  so  he  had 
not  fired  at  them,  for  Mr.  Sturgis  liked  to  see  these 
wild  creatures  of  the  prairie  near  the  ranch,  and  had 
asked  that  no  hunting  be  done  close  at  home.  Jack 
had  tended  his  live  stock,  and  his  ducks  were  now 
quite  large  and  full  feathered  birds,  and  were  very 
tame,  and  pretty  well  able  to  take  care  of  them, 
selves.  When  they  were  still  little  bits  of  fluffy 
things,  Hugh  had  advised  him  to  cut  off  the  tip  of 
one  wing  from  each,  and  he  had  done  so.  The  birds, 
therefore,  could  not  fly,  and  wandered  about  on 
foot,  feeding  with  the  hens  and  dabbling  in  the 
brook.  Hugh  warned  him  that  he  would  have  to 
look  out  for  them  when  the  weather  got  cool,  or 
else  they  might  start  off  to  go  south  on  foot,  and 
if  they  ever  wandered  off  on  the  prairie  the  coyotes 
would  surely  pick  them  up  at  once.  The  calf  elk 
had  grown  very  large,  and  was  annoyingly  tame. 
It  was  sure  to  be  where  it  was  not  wanted,  and  Mrs. 
Carter  once  declared  to  Jack  that  she  wished  some 
one  would  kill  the  little  brute,  for  if  she  left  the 
kitchen  door  open  it  would  go  in,  and  put  its  nose 
into  every  dish  in  the  place. 

Although  he  had  many  things  to  do,  they  did  not 
take  up  all  Jack's  time.  He  spent  many  hours  lying 
on  the  hills,  watching  the  beasts  and  the  birds  and 


208    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  insects,  and  this  seemed  to  him  better  fun  than 
anything  about  the  ranch,  except  the  long  talks 
that  he  had  with  Hugh,  whose  stories  of  old  times 
were  always  interesting.  He  had  gotten  down  his 
uncle's  bird  book  from  the  shelf  in  the  sitting-room, 
and  had  learned  the  names  of  many  birds  of  the 
prairie,  and  from  Hugh  he  had  learned  also  how  the 
larger  beasts  and  birds  lived,  and  what  they  did  in 
summer  and  autumn  and  winter  and  spring. 

One  evening  as  Hugh  and  Jack  were  sitting  on 
the  steps  of  the  bunk-house,  watching  the  lengthen- 
ing shadows  of  the  mountains  creep  further  and 
further  out  over  the  prairie,  Hugh  said  to  Jack: 

"  Son,  your  uncle  wants  me  to  go  off  and  get  a 
horse  load  of  meat,  and  I  am  thinking  of  going  over 
to  Smith's  Hole,  to  see  if  I  can't  kill  a  couple  of 
blacktail  bucks ;  they  ought  to  be  getting  pretty 
fat  by  this  time.  I  expect  I'll  have  to  be  gone  two 
or  three  days,  and  I  thought  maybe  you'd  like  to 
go,  if  you  can  get  Joe  and  Rube  to  look  after  your 
live  stock.  What  do  you  say  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  that  would  be  fine. 
Do  you  know,  I  have  been  out  here  now  nearly  four 
months  and  I've  never  slept  out  of  doors  yet.  I 
don't  know  what  a  camp  is.  I'd  love  to  go  over 
there  with  you,  and  it  would  be  splendid  to  see 
these  deer.  You  see,  I  have  never  seen  a  deer  since 
I  have  been  here." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expected  maybe  you'd 
like  to  go,  and  I'd  surely  like  to  have  you  come. 
We'll  speak  to  your  uncle  about  it.  I  expect  we'd 


A  TRIP  TO  SMITH'S  HOLE  209 

better  start  day  after  to-morrow,  because  I've  got 
to  look  over  them  pack  riggings,  and  see  if  they're 
all  in  order.  I  expect  we'd  better  take  two  pack 
horses.  We  won't  have  much  of  anything  to  carry 
going,  besides  our  beds,  but-  if  we  get  two  or  three 
deer,  the  horses  will  both  have  loads  coming  back, 
and  I'd  rather  lead  a  pack  horse  than  walk  and  lead 
my  own  horse  loaded  with  meat." 

Mr.  Sturgis  was  quite  willing  that  Jack  should 
go.  The  following  day  was  devoted  to  putting  in 
order  the  pack  saddles,  blankets  and  necessary 
ropes,  and  the  morning  after,  they  started. 

Hugh  rode  old  Baldy,  and  Jack,  Pawnee.  One 
of  the  pack  horses  had  nothing  on  his  saddle,  while 
the  other  carried  the  blankets,  their  few  cooking 
utensils  and  provisions.  Hugh  and  Rube  put  the 
load  on  the  pack  horse,  and  threw  ropes  about  it 
and  pulled  them  tight  in  a  very  short  time,  but 
although  Jack  watched  closely,  he  had  no  idea  how 
the  ropes  went  over  the  load,  nor  why  they  held  it 
fast.  When  they  were  ready,  Hugh  mounted,  and, 
taking  the  rope  of  the  pack  horse,  started  on,  while 
Jack  followed,  leading  the  unloaded  animal. 

Half  the  morning  had  passed  without  a  word  hav- 
ing been  exchanged  between  the  two  riders,  when 
Hugh,  halting  in  a  sheltered  spot  out  of  the  wind, 
dismounted,  threw  down  his  rope  and  his  bridle 
rein,  and  felt  in  his  pocket  for  his  pipe.  "  'Light 
down,"  he  said  to  Jack,  as  he  came  up,  "  and  let  the 
horses  rest  a  while.  I  want  to  smoke." 

Jack  was  quite  willing  to  do  so,  for  he  felt  as  if  his 


2io    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

right  arm  would  soon  be  pulled  out  of  the  socket; 
with  the  labour  of  dragging  the  lazy  pack  horse. 

44  What's  the  matter  with  you  ?"  continued  Hugh. 
"  Arm  tired  ?  " 

44  Yes,"  said  Jack,  « that  horse  pulls  back  so  he 
nearly  drags  me  out  of  the  saddle." 

"  Sho  !  "  said  Hugh.  «  You  ought  to  put  a  hacka- 
more  on  him,  and  then  pass  the  rope  under  youf 
leg  and  take  a  turn  of  it  round  the  saddle  horn.  If 
he  pulls  back  then,  it  cuts  off  his  wind,  and  he  won't 
do  it  very  long." 

"  I'll  do  it,"  said  Jack ;  "  wish  I'd  thought  of  it 
before.  I'd  almost  made  up  my  mind  to  turn  him 
loose  and  drive  him." 

44  We'll  do  that  after  we  get  a  little  further,"  said 
Hugh.  44  We  can't  drive  that  horse  you're  leading 
yet  awhile,  he'd  keep  trying  to  turn  back  and  go 
home,  and  make  us  more  trouble  than  it  is  to  lead 
him." 

44  Hugh,  I  wish  you'd  tell  me  how  you  tied  that 
load  on  this  morning,"  said  Jack.  "  It  seems  to  be 
firm,  and  yet  I  should  think  the  ropes  would  come 
loose  and  you'd  have  to  tie  it  up  every  little  while." 

44  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "that's  something  you've  got 
to  learn,  of  course,  packing  ;  it's  a  regular  trade,  and 
when  you  know  how  to  do  it  right,  your  load  stays 
on  your  horse;  if  you  don't  know  how  to  do  it, 
your  load  comes  loose  and  makes  you  trouble  from 
the  time  you  start  in  the  morning  till  you  get  into 
camp  at  night.  I  calculated  that  that  would  be  one 
of  the  things  you'd  learn  something  about  on  this 


A  TRIP  TO  SMITH'S  HOLE          211 

trip.  You  see,  it  takes  two  to  pack  a  horse ;  one 
man  on  the  nigh  side  and  one  on  the  off  side.  Now, 
we'll  probably  get  into  camp  early  to-night,  and 
have  a  chance  to  look  round  a  little  bit  and  see  if 
there's  any  deer  in  the  hills  right  close  to  where  we 
camp,  and  if  there  ain't,  we'll  move  on  five  or  six 
miles  further  to-morrow,  and  then  I'll  give  you  your 
first  lesson  in  packing.  Let's  look  at  this  load 
now  ;  "  and  he  rose  to  his  feet.  They  went  up  to 
the  pack  horse,  and  Hugh,  taking  Jack  in  front  of 
it,  told  him  to  look  at  the  two  loads  that  hung  on 
either  side  of  the  animal.  "  You  see,"  he  said,  "  they 
just  balance  each  other,  and  that  is  the  main  secret 
of  packing,  to  put  the  loads  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
horse  so  that  each  pulls  against  the  other.  If  either 
one  is  heavier  than  the  other,  it  is  pulling  down  all 
the  time  upon  its  side,  and  makes  the  saddle  and 
everything  swing  over  that  way  ;  that  tends  to 
loosen  the  ropes,  and  is  likely  to  make  the  horse's 
back  sore  besides.  You'll  notice  that  when  I  make 
up  the  side  packs  to-morrow  morning,  I'll  weigh 
them  in  my  hands,  and  if  I  find  that  one  is  lighter 
than  the  other,  I'll  put  something  into  it  to  make 
the  weights  even.  But  I  can  tell  you  more  in  five 
minutes  by  showing  you,  than  I  can  in  an  hour  by 
talking,  so  let's  move  on  ;  but  first  we'll  make  a 
hackamore  for  that  horse  of  yours." 

Hugh  showed  Jack  how  to  fix  his  rope  around  the 
horse's  head  and  nose,  so  that  it  made  a  sort  of  head- 
itall  for  it,  like  a  halter  ;  then  when  Jack  mounted, 
&e  passed  the  rope  under  his  leg,  took  a  couple  of 


212     JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

turns  around  the  saddle,  and  the  pack  animal,  after 
pulling  back  once  or  twice,  gave  it  up  and  followed 
readily  enough  close  to  Pawnee's  hips. 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when,  aftef 
passing  over  some  low  hills,  they  rode  down  to  a 
little  spring,  near  which  stood  a  grove  of  small 
cottonwoods.  Beyond  was  a  great  stretch  of 
rough,  broken,  bad  land  country  where  there  seemed 
to  be  no  grass,  and  which  looked  like  a  jumble  of 
steep  naked  hills,  separated  by  deep  ravines. 

"  That's  the  Hole,"  said  Hugh,  "  and  it's  a  terrible 
good  hunting-ground  for  deer  and  elk  in  winter." 

"  Why,"  said  Jack,  "  it  doesn't  look  to  me  as  if 
there  were  grass  enough  there  to  feed  a  jack  rabbit, 
let  alone  an  elk." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  so ;  it  does  look 
pretty  barren,  but  there's  lots  of  feed  there,  all  the 
same.  There's  little  fine  grass  grows  on  them  hills, 
and  the  wind  keeps  them  always  bare  through  the 
winter.  Besides  that,  it's  a  heap  sight  warmer  over 
here  than  it  is  on  the  prairie,  close  to  the  house. 
You  wouldn't  think  there'd  be  much  difference,  but 
there's  lots.  Then,  down  in  the  bottom  of  these 
ravines  there's  worlds  of  good  feed.  It's  a  great 
wintering  place  for  the  elk  and  the  deer  that  sum- 
mers over  on  the  mountains  back  of  the  house." 

They  stopped  their  horses  on  a  little  level  spot, 
close  to  the  trees,  and  dismounted  there. 

"  Throw  down  your  bridle  rein,  son,"  said  Hugh, 
"  and  come  and  help  me  take  off  this  pack.  When- 
ever you're  travelling  with  a  pack  train,  and  stop  to 


A  TRIP  TO  SMITH'S  HOLE  213 

camp,  the  first  thing  is  to  take  off  the  packs,  and 
after  the  pack  animals  have  all  been  attended  to, 
you  can  unsaddle  your  own  horse.  Now,  look 
here!" 

Jack  went  up  to  Hugh,  who  was  standing  on  the 
nigh  side  of  the  loaded  pack  horse,  and  saw  him 
untie  the  end  of  the  rope  from  the  cinch,  and  throw 
it  off  the  load  in  front. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  go  around  to  the  off 
side  and  loosen  up  that  rope,  so  that  I  can  get  it  off 
this  side." 

Jack  did  so ;  first  pulling  at  two  or  three  different 
parts  of  the  rope,  and  as  he  pulled  at  each,  Hugh 
called  :  "  No."  At  last  he  pulled  on  a  rope  which 
came  easily  to  him,  and  as  the  part  slacked  toward 
him,  the  rope  dropped  off  the  forward  corner  of  the 
pack. 

"Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  take  it  off  the  hinder 
corner ;  "  and  when  Jack  took  hold  of  the  rope  about 
the  hinder  corner,  it  was  loose  and  slipped  off. 
Hugh  pulled  the  slack  toward  him  and  freed  the 
pack  on  his  side,  and  then  threw  the  big  rope  off  the 
horse.  "  Now,"  he  said,  "  stand  under  that  bundle 
and  let  it  down  easy  when  I  untie  the  swings ; "  and 
in  a  moment  more  the  bundle  dropped  into  Jack's 
arms  and  he  put  it  on  the  ground. 

They  unsaddled  all  the  horses  and  picketed  them 
out.  Hugh  put  the  saddles  and  all  their  camp  fur- 
niture in  the  brush,  saying :  "  We  won't  make  camp 
until  we  come  back.  Let's  go  out  now  and  see  what 
the  prospect  is  for  game." 


CHAPTER  XXI 

JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE 

HUGH  and  Jack  walked  a  quarter  of  a  mile  down 
the  ravine,  at  whose  head  they  had  left  the  horses, 
without  seeing  any  sign  of  game.  Then,  clambering 
up  the  steep  bank  to  the  north,  they  crossed  a  hill 
and  entered  another  ravine.  Jack  saw  that  there 
was  good  grass  in  the  narrow  bottoms  of  these  water- 
courses, as  Hugh  had  said,  and  in  almost  each  one 
of  several  that  they  crossed  a  little  stream  flowed. 
The  sun  was  getting  low  and  the  air  cooler,  when,  as 
they  topped  one  of  these  hills  to  descend  into 
another  ravine  Hugh  stopped,  made  a  motion  of 
warning  with  his  hand,  and  then,  slowly  lowered 
his  head  and  backed  away  from  the  ridge. 

"  There's  two  deer  just  below  us,  feeding  in  the 
creek  bottom,  and  I  believe  they're  near  enough  to 
the  ridge  to  shoot.  We'll  go  round  about  opposite 
them  and  take  a  look  and  see  what  the  chances  are. 
I  wouldn't  be  a  bit  surprised  if  we  could  get  a  good 
shot  at  them." 

"  How  far  below  us  are  they,  Hugh  ?"  said  Jack. 
"  Not  more  than  a  hundred  yards,"  was  the  reply 
"  I  think  we  can  see  them   from  the  ridge,  and  get 
«4 


JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE  215 

one,  or  maybe  both  of  them.  But,  now  there's  one 
thing  I  want  to  say  to  you :  look  out  you  don't  over- 
shoot.  When  a  man's  shooting  down-hill,  the  way 
we  may  have  to  do  from  here,  he's  terrible  likely  to 
draw  his  sight  too  coarse,  and  to  shoot  too  high. 
If  you  get  a  chance  to  shoot,  draw  your  sight  down 
just  as  fine  as  you  can,  and  hold  low  down  on  the 
animal.  It  is  better  to  shoot  under  than  it  is  to 
shoot  over,  anyhow  ;  don't  forget  this." 

They  walked  briskly  along,  and  in  a  very  few 
moments  Hugh  said,  "  Hold  on  now ;  I'll  go  up  and 
take  a  look.'5  He  did  so,  cautiously  peering  ovef 
the  ridge,  with  bared  head,  and  then,  bending  down, 
he  motioned  Jack  to  his  side. 

"  They're  right  there,"  he  whispered,  "  and  it's  an 
easy  shot.  You  take  the  big  buck  and  I'll  try  the 
little  fellow  when  he  runs.  Remember  now,  hold 
low  and  steady.  If  the  deer  is  standing  with  his 
tail  toward  you,  aim  about  for  his  loin,  and  try  to 
break  his  back." 

They  crept  forward  on  hands  and  knees,  and  not 
until  they  had  reached  the  very  crown  of  the  hill 
did  they  raise  their  heads.  Then  they  saw  the 
wished-for  game,  two  fine  mule  deer  bucks,  busily 
feeding  on  the  green  grass  that  grew  near  the 
stream.  They  were  graceful  creatures,  one  of  them 
much  larger  than  the  other  and  with  a  fine  head  of 
horns ;  the  other  had  small  horns  and  was  evidently 
young.  Their  ears  were  very  large,  and  their  tails, 
which  were  white,  all  except  a  black  tip,  were  con» 
stantly  in  motion.  Both  deer  stood  broadside 


216    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

on ;  the  larger  one  somewhat  in  advance  of  the 
other. 

"You  shoot  first,"  said  Hugh.  "Take  the  big 
one,  and  remember,  hold  low." 

Jack  put  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  feeling  as  cool 
and  steady  as  ever  he  did  in  his  life,  and  aiming 
just  behind  the  big  buck's  elbow,  fired,  and  the  deer 
dropped  in  his  tracks.  The  little  fellow  made  one 
or  two  jumps,  and  then  stood  looking,  when  Hugh's 
ball  pierced  his  breast,  and  he  too  fell  to  the  ground. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  a  good  job,  son.  If 
I'd  thought  we  were  going  to  get  meat  so  quick,  I'd 
a  fetched  a  pack  horse  along,  but  I  didn't  much 
think  we  would.  So  I'll  go  down  and  butcher  them 
deer,  and  you  go  back  to  camp  and  put  a  pack  saddle 
on  one  of  the  pack  horses  and  fetch  it  over  here. 
Mind  you  take  the  saddle  and  the  blanket  and  the 
lash  rope  that  goes  together;  don't  mix  up  the 
riggings.  You'd  better  bring  the  pack  horse  you 
led ;  it  hasn't  had  nothing  to  do  all  day  except  to 
pack  its  saddle,  and  it  might  as  well  work  for  its 
grub  now.  You  can't  see  the  camp  from  here,  but 
I  don't  expect  there's  any  danger  of  your  losing 
your  way.  You  know  we  crossed  four  of  these 
gulches  coming,  and  when  you  get  to  the  fifth  you 
want  to  turn  to  your  right  and  follow  up  the  creek, 
and  soon  you'll  come  in  sight  of  the  camp.  Keep 
the  sun  on  your  right  hand  all  the  time.  Do  you 
think  you  can  do  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  guess  so,  Hugh/'  said  Jack ;  "  now  that 
you've  told  me  how  many  ravines  we  crossed ;  I 


JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE  217 

didn't  notice,  myself,  I  only  knew  we'd  crossed  a 
number  of  them." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  Ve  got  to  learn  to  take 
notice  of  just  them  things,  if  you're  going  to  be  a 
prairie  man.  Now  mind,  if  you  should  not  be  able 
to  find  your  way  to  camp,  and  think  you're  lost, 
don't  keep  on  travelling;  just  climb  up  to  the  top 
of  the  nearest  hill  and  set  there,  and  before  night 
you'll  see  or  hear  me.  But  I  don't  expect  but  what 
you'll  find  your  way  back  to  camp  all  right." 

Hugh  went  on  downhill  toward  the  deer,  and 
Jack  set  out  on  his  return  to  camp.  He  kept  count 
of  the  ravines  as  he  crossed  them,  and  when  he  came 
to  the  fifth,  looked  around  to  see  if  there  was  any- 
thing  there  that  he  could  recognise.  It  all  looked 
strange  to  him,  but  he  turned  to  his  right  and  fol- 
lowed the  stream  up,  and,  before  he  had  gone  very 
far,  he  noticed  a  clump  of  willows  that  he  remem- 
bered they  had  passed  soon  after  leaving  camp.  A 
few  steps  beyond  this  a  grove  of  trees  appeared,  and 
a  moment  later  he  saw  the  horses.  "  Now,  the 
question  is,"  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  hurried  toward 
camp,  "  can  I  find  my  way  back  to  Hugh  ?  I'll  try 
hard,  anyhow." 

He  loosened  the  pack  hors.e  from  its  picket  pin, 
led  it  to  the  saddles,  and  choosing  the  right  rigging, 
saddled  the  animal  and  tied  the  lash  rope  to  the 
saddle.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  put  a  pack 
saddle  on  a  horse,  and  he  did  not  feel  sure  that  he 
had  done  it  right,  but  he  spent  little  time  over  it, 
thinking  that  the  important  thing  now  was  to  get 


2i8    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  horse  to  Hugh,  so  that  they  could  bring  their 
meat  to  camp  before  the  sun  set.  He  found  his  way 
back  without  difficulty  to  the  place  they  had  shot 
from,  and  from  there  saw  Hugh,  who  had  finished 
butchering,  smoking  his  pipe  by  the  two  carcasses. 
When  Jack  reached  him,  Hugh  said,  "  Well,  you 
didn't  have  no  trouble,  did  you  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Jack.  "  I'd  a  notion  at  one  time 
that  maybe  I  was  lost,  for  the  ravine  that  we  came 
down  looked  strange  to  me  on  my  way  back,  but  I 
followed  it  up  and  got  to  camp  all  right." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  it's  a  mighty  good  plan, 
when  you're  going  along  in  a  strange  country,  to 
stop  every  now  and  then  and  take  a  look  behind  you, 
and  see  how  the  country  looks  after  you  pass  through 
it.  Of  course  as  you  go  along  you  see  how  things 
look  ahead  of  you,  but  sometimes  they  look  mighty 
different  from  the  other  side.  I'd  ought  to  have 
spoken  to  you  about  that  before.  Say,"  he  con- 
tinued, as  he  rose  to  his  feet  and  looked  at  the  pack 
horse,  "  who  saddled  that  horse  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  did,  of  course,"  answered  Jack;  "what's 
the  matter  with  it  ?  I  kind  o'  felt  as  if  there  was 
something  wrong  when  I  started,  but  I  was  in  a  rush 
to  get  back  here,  and  so  hurried  along  without 
stopping  to  think  about  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  there  is  something  wrong, 
but  we  ain't  got  time  now  to  let  you  find  out  what 
it  is.  Don't  you  see  you've  got  the  saddle  on  hind 
side  before  ?  You  must  have  cinched  the  horse  up 
from  the  off  side  instead  of  from  the  near." 


JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE  219 

"  Of  course,"  said  Jack,  "  I  see  it  now.  That  must 
be  what  made  it  seem  so  queer  when  I  was  saddling ; 
but  you  see,  both  ends  of  the  pack  saddle  look  alike. 
I  don't  think  I  would  have  made  that  mistake  with 
a  riding  saddle." 

"  No,  I  expect  not,"  said  Hugh,  "  if  you  had,  you'd 
probably  have  found  it  out  when  you  tried  to  mount. 
Now,  I'll  put  this  saddle  on  right  and  then  we'll  take 
these  deer  to  camp  as  quick  as  we  can.  The  sun 
will  be  down  before  long,  and  we  want  daylight  to 
cook  supper  and  spread  our  beds  by." 

They  packed  the  two  deer  on  the  horse.  Hugh 
did  most  of  the  work  of  packing,  but  Jack  helped 
now  and  then  by  holding  up  the  load  on  one  side,  and 
pulling  a  rope  or  two.  As  they  drew  near  the  camp 
Hugh  said,  "  We've  got  lots  of  daylight  yet  and  can 
make  a  nice  camp  here,  and  to-morrow  morning 
we'll  hunt  a  little  way  on  horseback.  We  don't 
want  to  have  too  good  luck  right  at  the  start,  if  we 
do  we'll  have  to  go  back  home  again  too  soon." 

Hugh  hung  up  the  two  deer  to  the  branches  of  a 
tree,  and  then  told  Jack  to  go  down  to  the  stream 
and  dip  up  a  bucket  of  water,  while  he  would  gather 
wood  and  start  the  supper.  By  the  time  the  water 
had  been  brought,  the  fire  was  blazing,  and  Hugh 
had  their  small  mess  box  open  on  the  ground  and 
had  taken  from  it  a  little  piece  of  bacon,  the  coffee 
and  sugar  in  the  two  cans,  and  a  sack  which  con- 
tained several  loaves  of  bread. 

"  Now,  you  see,"  he  said,  "  we're  in  luck  this  trip, 
for  Mrs.  Carter  gave  us  a  sack  full  of  bread,  so  we 


220    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

won't  have  to  bake  none  while  we're  out.  All  we've 
got  to  do  now  is  to  fry  a  little  meat  and  cook  a  cup 
of  coffee,  and  our  supper's  ready.  You  fill  that 
coffee  kettle  with  water  and  set  it  on  to  boil  while  I 
cut  some  of  that  fat  deer  meat."  By  the  time  the 
water  was  boiling,  fat  ribs  of  one  of  the  deer 
were  sizzling  in  the  frying-pan,  giving  out  an 
odour  that  made  Jack  feel  very  hungry.  Hugh  put 
the  coffee  into  the  hot  water,  let  it  boil  for  two  or 
three  minutes,  then  stood  it  off  the  fire  but  close  to 
it,  where  it  would  keep  warm,  and  told  Jack  to  cut 
some  slices  of  bread.  When  he  had  done  this,  Hugh 
told  him  to  set  the  table,  which  made  Jack  look 
rather  blank,  for  he  did  not  know  precisely  what 
Hugh  meant,  but  he  laid  out  two  of  the  tin  plates, 
two  cups,  and  for  each  a  knife,  fork  and  spoon,  and 
Hugh  nodded,  as  much  as  to  say  that  this  was  right. 
The  deer  meat,  the  bread  and  the  hot  coffee,  with 
plenty  of  sugar  in  it,  seemed  to  Jack  to  make  about 
the  best  meal  that  he  had  ever  tasted. 

When  they  had  finished  eating,  Hugh  said,  "  Now, 
let's  unroll  our  beds  and  get  ready  to  sleep,  and  then 
we  won't  have  anything  more  to  do  except  to  sit  by 
the  fire  here  until  we  get  sleepy."  He  pointed  out 
to  Jack  a  good  place  for  his  bed,  where  the  grass  was 
smooth  and  there  were  no  stones  or  roots  or  bits  of 
stick  lying  on  the  ground,  and  the  bed  was  soon  un- 
rolled and  ready  for  occupancy.  Hugh  made  his  own 
bed  and  then  returned  to  the  fire  and  again  lit  his 
pipe. 

The  sun  had  set,  and  the  air  was  so  cool  as  to 


JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE  221 

make  the  warmth  of  the  fire  very  pleasant.  Jack 
lay  down  by  it  and  stretched  out  his  legs  in  the 
comfortable  heat.  "  Better  put  your  coat  on,  son," 
said  Hugh;  "  it  gets  cool  mighty  fast  after  the  sun 
goes  down.  It's  good  for  you  to  keep  right  warm 
until  you  turn  into  your  blankets.  If  you  go  to  bed 
feeling  chilly,  it's  liable  to  take  you  a  long  time  to 
go  to  sleep." 

Jack  followed  this  advice,  and  after  putting  on  his 
coat  lay  down  again  by  the  fire,  for  he  was  tired  and 
a  little  bit  sleepy.  "  Tell  me  something  about  these 
deer  that  we  killed,  Hugh,"  he  said;  "they  don't 
look  like  any  of  the  deer  that  I  ever  saw  in  Central 
Park ;  their  ears  are  big,  and  their  tails  are  different. 
Are  these  the  regular  deer  that  we  have  in  the  east  ?  " 

"  I  expect  not,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  these  are  what  we 
call  blacktails  out  here.  You  took  notice,  I  expect, 
that  the  tips  of  their  tails  were  black ;  I  guess  that's 
what  gives  them  the  name.  They've  got  another 
name,  though.  I  have  heard  your  uncle  call  them 
mule  deer,  and  he  says  that  that  name  comes  from 
their  having  such  big  ears.  They've  got  sure  enough 
big  ears,  all  right,  and  I  guess  that's  a  pretty  good 
name  for  'em.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  'way  over 
west,  toward  the  coast,  there's  another  kind  of  deer 
that's  the  real  blacktail ;  it's  got  a  big  tail  that's  black 
all  over.  These  deer  here  are  good  meat,  but  they're 
a  kind  of  a  fool  animal,  after  all.  Sometimes  if  you 
shoot  one,  the  others  with  it  will  just  kind  of  jump 
round,  looking  to  see  where  the  noise  comes  from ; 
they  don't  seem  to  have  sense  enough  to  run  away ; 


222    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

but  I  expect  that  don't  mean  much  except  that  they 
haven't  been  hunted.  I've  seen  elk  and  mountain 
sheep  do  the  same  thing,  and  of  course  buffalo  will 
stand  and  let  you  shoot  at  them  as  long  as  you  want 
to.  'Pears  to  me  always  as  if  deer  and  elk  didn't 
depend  much  on  their  eyes.  If  a  man  keeps  right 
still  they  don't  seem  to  see  him ;  or,  anyway,  they 
ain't  afraid  of  him  ;  but  if  they  once  get  a  smell  of 
him,  they  don't  wait  to  ask  no  questions,  but  just 
light  out  of  the  country. 

"  You  killed  that  deer  mighty  well,  son,"  he  went 
on,  "  you're  getting  to  be  steady  as  anybody  need 
be.  I  wondered,  when  you  drew  up  to  shoot, 
whether  you'd  have  any  trouble  catching  your 
sight.  I  thought  maybe  you  would,  because  this 
was  the  first  deer  you'd  shot  at;  but  you  didn't 
seem  to  be  a  mite  flustered." 

"No,"  said  Jack,  "I  didn't  feel  excited.  Of 
course  I  wanted  to  kill  the  deer,  but  I  was  thinking 
hard  about  what  you  had  told  me  of  the  danger  of 
over-shooting.  I  don't  believe  I  thought  of  any- 
thing else." 

They  were  sitting  by  the  fire,  not  talking,  when 
suddenly  from  the  hills  to  the  north,  sounded  a 
series  of  frightful  yells  and  howls,  which  made  Jack 
sit  up  very  straight.  "  What  in  the  world's  that, 
Hugh  ?  "  he  said,  seeing  that  Hugh  had  not  changed 
his  position  nor  apparently  heard  this  dreadful  noise. 

"That  yelling?"  said  Hugh.  "Why  I  forgot 
that  you'd  never  been  in  camp  before.  Now,  what 
do  you  expect  that  is  ?  " 


JACK'S  FIRST  CAMP-FIRE  223 

"  Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  Jack ;  "  it  sounded 
like  a  lot  of  demons  fighting." 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,"  said  Hugh,  "  it's 
just  some  miserable  coyote  that's  found  the  place 
where  we  butchered  them  deer,  and  is  telling  all  the 
other  coyotes  about  it." 

"  But,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  there  must  be  at  least 
a  hundred  there,  from  the  noise  they  make." 

"  Not  so,"  said  Hugh ;  "  I  don't  believe  there's 
more  than  one.  I  told  you  the  other  day  that  one 
of  them  woodchucks  could  make  more  noise  for  its 
size  than  any  beast  I  knew ;  but  when  I  said  that,  I 
expect  I  must  have  forgot  the  coyote.  Sometimes 
if  two  or  three  get  together  and  howl,  you'd  think 
there  was  a  thousand.  They'd  be  a  terrible  beast 
to  hear  at  night  if  one  was  anyway  scary." 

"  I  should  think  so,"  said  Jack ;  "  I  didn't  know 
what  was  going  to  happen  when  I  heard  that  fellow 
begin  just  now." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  he  and  his  partners  will  have 
a  good  feast  to-night ;  but  I  expect  you're  getting 
sleepy,  and  we  want  to  be  up  with  the  sun  to- 
morrow,  so  maybe  we  might  as  well  turn  in  now." 

"All  right,  Hugh,  I  am  getting  sleepy  and  I 
guess  I'd  like  to  go  to  bed." 

"  Say  we  do,"  said  Hugh.  "  One  thing  I'll  tell 
ye,  seeing  that  you've  never  slept  out  of  doors  be- 
fore ;  when  you  go  to  bed,  take  off  your  coat,  your 
pants  and  your  shoes ;  the  less  a  man  has  on  him 
when  he  is  in  bed  the  better  he  rests." 

Hugh  filled  his  pipe  again  and  put  some  more 


224    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

wood  on  the  fire,  which  blazed  up  brightly;  and 
Jack,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  his  bed,  began  to 
undress. 

"  Put  your  shoes  and  the  clothes  that  yon 
take  off  under  the  head  of  your  bed/'  said  Hugh, 
"  then,  if  it  should  come  on  to  rain  or  snow  during 
the  night,  they  won't  get  wet.  You've  got  a  lot  of 
little  odds  and  ends  of  things  to  learn  about  being 
in  camp,  and  I  want  to  tell  you  all  of  them  that  I 
can  think  of,  because  if  you  know  them  you'll  be  a 
heap  more  comfortable  than  you  will  if  you  don't." 

Before  long,  Jack  was  snugly  wrapped  in  his 
blankets,  watching  the  flickering  fire  and  the  bright 
stars  that  shone  out  of  the  black  sky  above  him. 
Presently  Hugh  turned  into  his  blankets,  and  the 
fire  went  down. 

Jack  had  been  sleepy  when  he  went  to  bed,  but 
now  he  felt  wakeful.  He  could  hear  queer  little 
things  moving  about  in  the  grass  close  to  his  head  ; 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  rustled  in  the  gentle  breeze ; 
the  horses  cropped  the  grass  and  walked  about  not 
far  off,  and  each  one  of  these  sounds  seemed  loud 
to  him.  Every  now  and  then  there  would  be  a 
burst  of  howling  from  the  hills,  and  altogether,  Jack 
felt  strange.  But  soon  he  slept. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL 

"  WAKE  up,  son,  it's  getting  toward  morning,  and 
I  want  to  get  started.  Levez,  as  the  Frenchmen  say 
up  north." 

Jack  opened  his  eyes  very  slowly,  and  pushed  the 
blankets  down  from  his  head  and  saw  the  bright 
light  of  the  fire  and  Hugh  moving  about  it ;  but 
the  stars  still  shone  brightly  from  the  black  sky 
above,  and  there  was  nothing  to  show  that  it  was 
not  the  middle  of  the  night. 

"  Is  it  time  to  get  up,  Hugh  ?  "  Jack  asked ;  "  I'm 
awful  sleepy." 

"  Yes,  you've  got  to  get  up  if  you're  going  hunt- 
ing with  me.  If  you'd  rather,  you  can  lie  in  your 
blankets  till  the  sun  gets  up,  but  you  can't  hunt  if 
you  do  that,"  was  the  reply. 

Jack  pushed  down  the  blankets,  but  the  air  was 
cold,  and  he  hated  to  get  up. 

"  Put  on  your  shoes,"  said  Hugh, "  and  come  over 
and  dress  here  by  the  fire  where  it's  warm.  The 
nights  are  getting  mighty  cool  now,  and  I  expect 
you  feel  it." 

"  Isn't  it  cold,  though,"  said  Jack,  as  he  drew  on 
15  225 


226    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

his  shoes,  and  with  his  clothes  in  his  arms  ran  ovei 
to  the  fire.  "  This  is  nice  and  warm,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  you've  got  to  hurry  up  now  and  dress ; 
breakfast  is  near  ready." 

Jack  saw  that  meat  was  sputtering  in  the  frying 
pan,  and  that  the  coffee-pot  was  standing  by  the 
fire,  and  hurried  into  his  clothes. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  you  want  to  wash 
your  face.  Hold  your  hands  and  I'll  pour."  He 
dipped  a  cup  into  the  bucket  of  water,  and,  while 
Jack  held  his  hands  together,  poured  a  tiny  stream 
into  them,  while  the  boy  washed  his  hands  and  face. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  that's  a  new  kind  of  a  wash 
basin  to  me." 

"  Is  it  ?"  said  Hugh.  "  Well,  it  saves  you  wash- 
ing  in  the  dark  down  by  the  spring.  You  may  as 
well  go  down  there  though  and  get  a  bucket  of  fresh 
water,  and  we'll  heat  that  while  we're  eating,  so 
that  we  can  wash  up  the  dishes  before  we  start." 

Jack  did  as  he  was  bade,  and  by  the  time  he  had 
returned  with  the  water,  Hugh  had  taken  the  food 
off  the  fire,  and  they  began  their  breakfast.  After 
the  meal  was  over  Jack  went  out  and  brought  in  the 
saddle  horses,  while  Hugh  was  washing  up  the 
dishes,  and  after  saddling  his  own,  rolled  up  his  bed 
and  was  ready  to  start.  A  few  moments  later,  Hugh 
was  in  the  saddle,  and  they  rode  off  over  the  prairie, 
nearly  in  the  direction  that  they  had  gone  the  night 
before,  but  keeping  away  from  the  Hole,  so  as  to  go 
around  the  heads  of  all  the  ravines. 

"  I  wanted  to  get  out  early,"  said  Hugh,  "  so's  to 


A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL  227 

go  over  here  a  couple  of  miles  and  get  up  on  top  of 
a  high  hill  by  sunrise.  From  there  we  can  see  a 
long  distance,  and  if  there's  any  deer  feeding,  we 
can  see  them  and  figure  how  to  get  up  to  them." 

It  was  still  dark,  but  now  in  the  east  there  was  a 
streak  of  pale  light  along  the  horizon,  and  the  stars 
above  it  were  growing  dim.  They  galloped  briskly 
along  over  the  dark  prairie,  now  and  then  hearing  a 
rush  of  feet  and  the  stamping  and  blowing  of  ante- 
lope  which  they  had  started.  Before  they  reached 
the  hill  of  which  Hugh  had  spoken  the  dawn  was 
fairly  upon  them,  and  the  eastern  sky  was  red. 
They  left  their  horses  in  a  little  hollow,  and  on  foot 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  but  it  was  not  yet  light 
enough  for  them  to  see  very  much.  Before  long, 
however,  the  limb  of  the  sun  appeared  over  the 
eastern  horizon,  and  at  once  the  air  seemed  to  clear, 
and  they  could  see  a  long  distance. 

"  Oh,  look  at  that,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  pointing 
north-west,  "  there's  a  big  animal  out  there,  and  a 
little  one  near  it.  What  are  they  ?  Why  I  believe 
that's  an  elk." 

Hugh  looked  in  the  direction  to  which  Jack 
pointed,  and  said :  "  Yes,  that's  an  elk  all  right,  and 
a  calf  with  her ;  we  don't  want  anything  of  her.  I 
don't  see  exactly  what  she's  doing  down  here  on 
the  prairie  with  that  little  calf ;  she  ought  to  be  up 
in  the  hills.  There's  four  antelope  right  close, 
almost  within  gunshot ;  but  we  don't  want  antelope 
either.  What  we  came  after  is  deer ;  and  there  they 
are,"  he  continued,  pointing  toward  the  Hole,  where, 


228    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

in  a  depression  at  the  head  of  a  ravine,  three  dark 
coloured  animals  were  feeding.  They  were  a  long 
way  off,  and  Jack  could  not  tell  whether  they  had 
horns  or  not ;  in  fact,  he  would  not  have  known  what 
they  were,  but  he  saw  that  they  were  not  elk  nor 
antelope ;  their  colour  told  him  so  much.  They 
could  not  be  wolves,  for  they  stood  too  high  on 
their  legs,  and  had  no  tails  that  he  could  see ;  so  it 
seemed  certain  that  they  must  be  deer,  or  some 
other  animal  that  he  had  not  seen. 

"  What  had  we  better  do,  Hugh  ?  "  he  said  ;  "  do 
you  think  we  can  get  up  to  them  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  there  won't  be  no  trouble 
about  that,  but  what  I'd  like  to  know  now  is,  which 
way  this  wind  is  going  to  blow.  The  easiest  way 
to  get  at  them  is  to  go  around  north  of  them.  I 
think  that  ridge  would  bring  us  within  shot,  but  if 
the  wind  starts  up  to  blow  from  the  west  or  north 
or  north-west,  they'd  sure  smell  us,  and  we  wouldn't 
get  no  shot.  I'd  rather  set  here  a  spell  and  see 
what  the  wind  is  goin*  to  do.  They'll  feed  for  two 
hours,  maybe  three,  yet  before  they  lie  down.  Let's 
just  keep  our  eye  on  'em  and  see  how  they  act." 

Hugh  filled  his  pipe  and  smoked,  and  waited  for 
the  wind.  For  some  time  this  did  not  come,  and 
the  smoke  from  his  pipe  went  straight  upward. 
Presently,  however,  a  gentle  air  from  the  north-west 
carried  away  a  big  puff  of  smoke,  and  then  it  was  calm 
once  more.  But  soon  the  breeze  began  to  blow  very 
gently  from  the  north-west,  and  Hugh,  as  he  finished 
his  pipe  and  knocked  the  ashes  out  from  it,  said : 


A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL  229 

"  Well,  I  thought  that  was  likely  the  way  it  would 
act.  Now,  we've  got  to  go  round  them  deer  and  try 
to  get  up  on  them  from  toward  the  Hole." 

They  mounted  and  rode  briskly  back  the  way 
they  had  come,  for  some  little  distance,  and  then, 
turning  east,  toward  the  rim  of  the  Hole,  went 
more  slowly.  When  they  reached  the  edge  of  the 
prairie,  from  which  they  could  look  down  on  the 
broken  bad  lands,  where  they  had  been  the  evening 
before,  they  followed  the  rim  north,  keeping  a  sharp 
look-out  ahead  for  any  possible  game  that  might 
start  there,  and  also  watching  closely  the  ravines 
which  ran  down  into  the  Hole. 

At  length  Hugh  said :  "  'Pears  to  me  that  we 
ought  to  be  pretty  close  to  where  them  deer  is. 
Let's  go  slow  and  careful  now,  and  look  the  ground 
over." 

The  next  two  ridges  were  passed  very  cautiously, 
but  on  reaching  the  summit  of  the  third,  Hugh 
dropped  his  head  and  said,  "  There  they  are  ;  we're 
too  far  down.  Let's  take  our  horses  back  to  the 
next  ravine,  and  come  up  here  and  watch  the  deer. 
They'll  likely  work  this  way  before  very  long." 

After  they  had  left  their  horses,  Hugh  took  Jack 
up  to  the  crest  of  the  hill  and  pointed  out  the  deer 
to  him.  They  were  feeding  on  a  hillside,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  but  their  heads  were  pointed  toward 
the  Hole,  and  Hugh  felt  sure  that  with  a  little  pati- 
ence they  would  get  a  shot.  They  sat  there  waiting, 
for  more  than  an  hour,  while  the  deer  fed  about,  al- 
most in  the  same  place.  At  last  the  biggest  of  them 


230    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

raised  his  head  and  took  a  long  look  down  the  ra- 
vine, and  then  one  to  either  side  ;  then  he  started, 
walking  slowly  toward  the  Hole.  The  other  two 
did  not  seem  to  pay  any  attention  to  him,  but  after 
the  leader  had  gone  fifty  or  seventy-five  yards,  one 
of  the  others  stopped  feeding  and  trotted  after  him, 
and  these  two  walked  along  together,  directly  to- 
ward the  hunters.  The  third  deer  remained  where 
he  was  ;  he  had  evidently  found  something  that  he 
greatly  liked  and  did  not  intend  to  leave  it ;  but  at 
last,  finding  that  he  was  being  deserted,  he  too 
raised  his  head  and  trotted  after  the  others.  He 
had  not  come  up  with  them  when  they  passed  with- 
in seventy-five  yards  of  the  hunters,  and  Hugh 
said : 

"  Raise  up  now  and  kill  the  big  one.  I'll  stop 
him,  and  as  soon  as  he  stops,  you  shoot." 

Jack  slowly  raised  himself,  and  resting  his  left  el- 
bow on  his  knee,  aimed  at  the  leading  buck.  The 
other  deer  was  walking  by  the  big  buck's  side. 

As  Jack  brought  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  Hugh 
bleated,  in  imitation  of  a  fawn,  and  both  deer  stopped 
and  turned  their  heads  toward  him. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh.  And  as  Jack's  rifle  sound- 
ed, both  deer  fell  to  the  ground.  Hugh  said,  "  Slip 
another  cartridge  in  quick  ;  that  other  fellow  may 
get  up  and  run  off ;  "  and  they  started  down  toward 
the  fallen  animals.  The  third  deer  turned,  bounded 
gracefully  up  the  hill,  paused  for  a  moment  on  its 
crest  to  look,  and  then  disappeared. 

a  But  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  as  he  hurried  down  the 


A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL  231 

hill,  "  what  made  the  other  deer  fall ;  did  I  hit  both  ? 
I  couldn't  have  done  that  for  I  only  aimed  at  one." 

"  Well,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  it  looks  to  me  as  if  your 
ball  went  through  the  big  deer  and  killed  the  little 
one  too ;  but  we'll  soon  know." 

In  a  moment  they  stood  by  the  deer,  and  Hugh, 
seizing  the  smaller  one  by  one  of  its  horns,  thrust 
his  knife  into  its  chest. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  we've  got  him  anyhow.  Then 
he  bled  the  other  deer,  and  then  they  looked  for  the 
bullet  holes. 

It  was  as  Hugh  had  said,  Jack  had  not  remem- 
bered what  Hugh  had  told  him  the  night  before 
about  aiming  low  when  he  was  shooting  downhill, 
and  had  hit  the  big  buck  a  little  higher  up  than  he 
had  intended,  but  low  enough  to  kill  him.  The 
ball  had  passed  between  the  ribs,  out  on  the  other 
side,  and  had  passed  through  the  heart  of  the  fur- 
ther  deer. 

"  That's  a  pretty  lucky  shot,"  said  Hugh ;  "  you 
might  hunt  a  good  many  years  and  not  do  that  over 
again.  You've  beaten  me  all  hollow  this  trip,  and 
have  killed  three  times  as  many  deer  as  I  have.  I 
expect  you're  what  I  call  a  lucky  hunter,  and  if  you 
only  keep  on  trying  hard,  and  don't  get  to  feeling  too 
big  about  your  good  luck,  you'll  do  well  right 
along." 

"  I'm  surely  going  to  try  hard,  Hugh.  I  don't 
think  I  have  done  anything  very  bad  since  that  first 
day  when  I  tried  to  hunt  antelope  alone.  I  think  I 
learned  a  heap  that  day,  and  I  have  been  glad  a  good 


232    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

many  times  since  that  I  didn't  kill  those  first  ante, 
lope." 

"  That's  right,"  said  Hugh ;  "  I  believe  that  was 
an  awful  good  lesson  for  you,  and  I  hope  you'll  al- 
ways remember  it.  I  ain't  a  mite  uneasy  but  what 
you'll  always  do  well  in  your  hunting,  for  you're 
mighty  cool  headed.  I  have  hunted  with  a  heap  of 
men  that  couldn't  stand  it  to  see  game.  Seems  like 
whenever  they  saw  an  animal  standing  near  'em, 
they  just  got  crazy  right  off.  Why,  I  have  seen  men 
that  would  tremble  and  shake  like  they  had  the  ague, 
if  they  had  a  chance  like  you  had  just  now.  Well," 
he  went  on,  "  I  believe  we  might  as  well  butcher, 
and  then  start  back  and  pack  up  our  camp.  We'll 
put  one  deer  on  one  of  the  pack  horses  and  then 
bring  the  whole  outfit  over  here  and  pack  the  other 
three  deer  on  the  other  horse.  We've  got  all  the  meat 
we  want,  and  we  can  start  now  and  get  back  to  the 
ranch  by  night.  I  did  expect  to  be  gone  three  or 
four  days  but  we've  had  such  terrible  fine  luck  that 
we've  got  all  the  meat  we  need,  and  it's  no  use  stop- 
ping. If  we  do  we're  likely  to  kill  something  more, 
and  we  haven't  got  no  way  to  pack  it." 

The  work  of  butchering  the  deer  did  not  take 
long ;  they  dragged  the  carcasses  a  little  way  up 
the  hill,  turned  them  over  to  drain,  and  left  them 
lying  on  the  prairie.  Twenty  minutes'  ride  brought 
them  to  the  camp,  where  the  pack  horses  were  soon 
saddled.  The  beds  and  the  mess  outfit  were  put  on 
one  of  them,  and  here  Hugh  gave  Jack  his  first  les- 
son in  packing,  showing  him  how  the  bundles  were 


A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL  233 

put  on  in  the  swing  ropes,  and  then  how  the  dia- 
mond hitch  was  thrown.  After  half  a  dozen  trials, 
Jack  thought  he  understood  how  the  rope  should 
go,  and  which  ones  the  packer  on  either  side  should 
pull. 

"  That's  enough  for  one  lesson,"  said  Hugh ; 
"  now,  before  we  fasten  this  load  on  with  the  last 
rope,  we'll  throw  one  of  them  deer  carcasses  on  top, 
and  put  the  lash  rope  over  it."  This  was  done,  and 
Jack  for  the  first  time  helped  to  pack  a  horse,  work- 
ing on  the  off  side. 

"  You're  pretty  small,"  Hugh  said,  "  to  pack  yet  a 
while.  A  fellow's  got  to  be  tall  enough  to  reach  up, 
so  that  he  can  put  up  a  bundle  on  top  of  the  pack,, 
and  so  that  he  can  get  a  good  pull  on  the  ropes, 
forward  and  backward.  Your  legs  are  a  little  mite 
short  for  that  part  of  the  work  yet.  After  this, 
when  you  and  me  go  out,  if  you're  going  to  help 
pack,  we'll  have  to  pick  short-legged  pack  ponies." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I  suppose  my  legs  will  get 
longer  after  a  while." 

"  You  bet,"  said  Hugh,  "  they'll  be  all  right  after 
a  little  while,  and  it  ain't  needful  that  you  should  do 
much  packing  yet,  but  it's  mighty  handy  to  know 
how  to  do  it." 

The  other  deer  was  put  on  the  second  pack  horse, 
and  roughly  lashed  in  place,  and  when  they  reached 
the  two  animals  killed  that  morning,  one  deer  was 
hung  on  either  side  of  the  saddle,  while  the  third 
was  put  on  top.  Jack  helped  to  pack  this  load  too, 
and  did  his  work  better  because  the  horse  was  stand* 


234    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

ing  on  a  side  hill,  which  added  six  or  eight  inches 
to  the  boy's  apparent  height. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  as  they  were  ready  to  start, 
"  we  don't  need  to  haul  these  animals  behind  us  all 
day  long ;  we'll  just  tie  up  their  ropes  and  drive 
them  ;  they'll  travel  good  going  home." 

Hugh  coiled  up  the  rope  of  each  horse  and  made 
it  fast  to  the  lash  rope  on  top  of  the  pack.  Then, 
mounting,  they  started  the  pack  animals  across  the 
prairie  in  the  direction  of  the  ranch.  When  they 
had  gone  two  or  three  miles  they  crossed  a  ravine, 
from  the  side  of  which  bubbled  a  clear,  cold  spring, 
and  here  they  stopped  and  took  a  long,  refreshing 
drink.  At  the  edge  of  the  water  were  some  tracks 
in  the  wet  earth,  which  to  Jack  looked  like  the 
tracks  of  a  small  dog.  He  asked  Hugh  what  they 
were,  and  Hugh  told  him  they  were  the  tracks  of 
coyote  puppies. 

"  They've  only  just  left  here,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  likely 
they  heard  us  coming  and  skipped  out." 

They  had  hardly  come  up  on  to  the  prairie  from 
this  ravine  when  they  saw  three  half-grown  coyote 
puppies  shambling  along  only  a  short  distance  in 
front  of  them.  The  puppies  saw  the  men  at  once, 
and  galloped  off,  with  drooping  tails,  and  heads 
turned  back  over  their  shoulders,  looking  for  all  the 
world  like  three  little  dogs  that  expected  to  have  a 
stone  thrown  after  them. 

"  I  wouldn't  shoot  at  them,"  said  Hugh,  as  Jack 
reached  down  his  hand  to  draw  his  rifle  from  its 
icabbard:  "I  don't  know  how  these  pack  horses 


A  LOAD  OF  BLACKTAIL  235 

are  about  shooting,  and  if  you  were  to  fire  a  shot, 
it  might  make  one  of  'em  buck,  and  get  us  into 
some  little  trouble." 

It  was  nearly  night  before  the  ranch  house  was 
seen. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

OCCUPATIONS  OF  A  CRIPPLE 

A  FEW  days  after  their  return  from  Smith's  Hole, 
Jack  met  with  quite  a  bad  accident.  Joe  had 
driven  the  waggon  around  on  to  the  mountain  to  get 
a  load  of  poles,  and  Hugh  and  Jack  rode  up  by  the 
short  trail  to  help  him.  While  they  were  loading 
the  waggon,  Jack  carelessly  dropped  the  end  of  a 
heavy  pole  on  to  his  foot,  and  crushed  it  quite  badly. 
Hugh  at  once  took  off  his  shoe  and  stocking  and 
examined  the  foot,  but  did  not  find  that  any  bones 
were  broken.  He  bandaged  it  with  a  couple  of 
handkerchiefs,  wet  with  cold  water,  and  putting 
Jack  on  his  horse,  they  returned  to  the  ranch.  The 
ride  down  the  mountain  side  was  very  painful  for 
the  boy,  but  whenever  they  passed  a  brook,  Hugh 
bathed  the  foot  in  cold  water,  which  somewhat 
relieved  the  pain. 

When  they  reached  the  ranch  Jack's  foot  was 
badly  swollen,  and  he  was  at  once  put  to  bed,  where 
he  stayed  for  two  days.  After  that  he  was  allowed 
to  sit  up,  with  his  foot  resting  on  a  chair,  and  the 
next  two  days  he  spent  chiefly  in  reading,  though 
his  uncle  and  the  men  often  came  in  and  talked 
with  him,  giving  him  the  news.  Hugh  made  a 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  A  CRIPPLE       237 

crutch  for  him,  and  on  the  fifth  day  he  was  allowed 
to  hobble  about  with  that,  but  was  warned  not  to 
put  his  foot  to  the  ground,  unless  he  wanted  to  go 
to  bed  again. 

It  was  pretty  dull  work  doing  nothing,  for  Jack 
greatly  preferred  riding  over  the  prairie  to  sitting 
on  a  chair  in  front  of  the  ranch  door. 

The  first  day  that  he  used  the  crutch,  Jack 
amused  himself  for  a  time  by  calling  his  flock  of 
tame  wild  ducks  about  him  and  feeding  them ;  but 
after  a  while,  the  ducks  having  had  all  the  grain 
they  wanted,  walked  off  in  single  file  to  the  brush, 
and  left  him  alone.  He  thought  of  getting  one  of 
the  men  to  bring  the  elk  to  him,  but  this  was  such 
a  stupid  beast  that  he  thought  it  would  prove  a 
poor  companion. 

As  the  men  were  leaving  the  house  after  dinner, 
Jack  called  to  Hugh  and  said,  "  Hugh,  can't  you 
think  of  something  for  me  to  do  ?  I'm  getting 
awful  tired  of  staying  right  here  in  one  place." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  wish  it  was  so  you  could 
get  on  your  horse  and  ride  with  me  this  afternoon. 
I'm  going  over  into  the  pasture  and  then  down 
round  by  the  lake.  I'd  like  right  well  to  stop  here 
and  talk  with  you  all  the  afternoon,  but  I  can't  do 
it.  Them  cows  has  got  to  be  looked  after.  You 
surely  ought  to  have  some  one  to  keep  you  com- 
pany, though.  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is ;  I'll  go  down 
to  the  barn  and  fetch  up  Pawnee,  and  picket  him 
around  here  close  to  you.  Maybe  he'd  be  sort  of 
company  for  you." 


238    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

"That's  just  the  thing,"  said  Jack;  "I  wish 
you'd  do  it.  It's  nearly  a  week  now  since  I've 
seen  him." 

Hugh  went  down  to  the  barn,  and  after  a  little 
while  returned,  leading  the  horse  with  Jack's  rope 
about  its  neck.  He  drove  a  picket  pin  into  the  sod, 
not  far  in  front  of  the  boy's  chair,  and  fastened  the 
rope  to  it.  Then  he  went  into  the  house,  and  came 
out  again  with  a  cup  in  which  were  a  dozen  lumps 
of  sugar, 

"  Now,  son,"  he  said,  "  I've  got  a  job  for  you 
that'll  keep  you  busy  all  the  afternoon,  and  it's 
something  that  you'll  like  to  do,  and  something 
that  may  some  day  be  right  useful  to  you. 
You  put  in  your  time  this  afternoon  teaching  this 
horse  to  come  to  you  when  you  whistle  to  him. 
You  can't  much  more  than  make  a  start  to-day,  but 
if  you  keep  it  up  for  a  few  days,  you  can  make  him 
so  that  he'll  come  to  you  just  as  far  as  he  can  hear 
you  whistle." 

"That'll  be  splendid,  Hugh,  if  I  can  only  do  it; 
but  how  can  I  teach  him  ?  I  remember  reading  a 
book  once  about  a  man  who  lived  in  Mexico,  and 
he  had  trained  his  horse  just  that  way ;  and  I  re- 
member that  whenever  he  had  left  his  horse  and 
was  on  foot,  and  his  enemies  got  after  him,  he'd 
whistle,  and  the  horse  would  come  dashing  up,  and 
he'd  jump  into  the  saddle  and  ride  away.  You 
see,  his  was  the  fastest  horse  in  all  that  country, 
and  they  never  could  catch  him." 

"  Well,  now,"  said  Hugh,  "  there's  no  reason  why 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  A  CRIPPLE       239 

you  shouldn't  teach  yours  to  do  just  that  same 
thing,  and  yours  is  just  about  the  fastest  one  in 
all  this  country  ;  so  you  might  be  just  like  the 
fellow  you  read  about  in  the  book.  Now,  after  a 
while,  when  the  horse  is  feeding  quite  a  little  way 
from  you,  you  whistle  to  him,  and  then  pull  on  his 
rope  and  make  him  come  up  to  you  and  give  him  a 
lump  of  sugar.  Don't  give  him  only  one,  and  then 
let  him  wander  off  and  pick  grass  again,  and  the 
next  time  he  gets  pretty  well  toward  the  end  of  his 
rope,  whistle  to  him  again,  and  draw  in  on  the  rope 
and  bring  him  up  close  to  you  and  give  him  another 
lump  of  sugar.  Do  that  half  a  dozen  times,  not  too 
close  together,  and  the  first  thing  you  know  you'll 
see  him  start  toward  you  just  as  soon  as  you  whistle. 
Mind  you  always  whistle  to  him  the  same  way. 
Are  you  a  pretty  good  whistler  ?  Can  you  whistle 
loud?" 

"  No,  I  can't  whistle  very  loud,"  said  Jack.  "  I 
can  whistle  a  little,  but  I  can't  whistle  real  shrill." 

"  Well,  hold  on  now  ;  what  will  we  do  for  a 
whistle?  Seems  to  me  your  uncle's  got  a  dog 
whistle  somewhere  in  the  house,  that  he  always  used 
with  old  Dan,  that  bird  dog  that  he  hunted  with. 
I  think  I  saw  that  whistle  this  winter  in  the  cigar 
box  on  top  of  the  book  shelves.  Hold  on  a 


minute." 


Hugh  went  into  the  house  and  a  few  minutes 
later  came  out  again  with  the  dog  whistle  and  gave 
it  to  Jack.  "  Now,"  he  said,  "  if  you're  going  to  teach 
the  horse  to  mind  that  whistle,  you'll  have  to  get 


240    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

your  uncle  to  give  it  to  you,  and  carry  it  with  you 
all  the  time.  If  he  gets  to  learn  one  sound  he'll 
mind  that  and  no  other.  Try  him  now,  before  I 
start  off." 

Pawnee  was  busy  eating  grass,  nearly  at  the  full 
length  of  the  rope,  when  Jack  gave  a  long  shrill 
blast  on  his  whistle,  and,  at  the  unusual  sound,  the 
horse  raised  his  head  and  looked  about.  Jack 
began  to  gather  in  the  rope,  and  Pawnee,  following 
it,  walked  up  to  him  and  stuck  out  his  nose.  Jack 
offered  him  a  piece  of  the  sugar,  at  which  he  at 
first  sniffed  rather  suspiciously,  and  then  ate  and 
seemed  to  enjoy.  He  reached  out  his  nose  for  more, 
but  Jack  threw  down  the  rope  and  turned  away,  and 
presently  the  horse  walked  back  and  began  to  eat 
the  grass  again. 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  Hugh,  "you'll  see  that  be- 
fore night  he'll  come  quick  when  you  blow  that 
whistle.  Well,  so  long ;  I  must  be  going ;  "  and 
Hugh  walked  away  to  the  corral  to  get  his  horse. 

Jack  sat  here  most  of  the  afternoon,  and  from 
his  chair  trained  his  horse,  and  it  proved  as 
Hugh  had  said,  that  before  supper  time  Pawnee 
knew  that  a  blast  on  the  whistle  meant  that  he  was 
to  be  offered  a  lump  of  sugar,  which  he  was  always 
ready  to  take.  Jack  was  perfectly  delighted  with 
his  success,  and  determined  that  he  would  keep  up 
this  education  of  the  horse  until  it  had  been  so 
thoroughly  trained  that  it  would  seek  him  at  the 
whistle  wherever  he  might  be.  The  interest  that  he 
felt  in  this  lightened  up  the  next  two  or  three  days 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  A  CRIPPLE       241 

wonderfully.  Each  day  he  hopped  about  on  his 
crutch  a  little  more  easily,  and  at  last  he  was  able 
to  put  his  injured  foot  to  the  ground  without  much 
pain.  He  worked  with  Pawnee  down  in  the  corral 
and  out  on  the  flat  in  front  of  the  house,  and  at  last 
he  took  the  rope  off  the  animal  and  turned  it  loose, 
letting  it  wander  where  it  would,  and  when  he  found 
that  he  could  call  the  loose  horse  from  a  distance 
of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  it  came  galloping  or 
trotting  toward  him  at  the  sound  of  the  whistle, 
he  felt  that  he  had  really  accomplished  a  great 
feat. 

Hugh  congratulated  him  heartily  on  his  success. 
"  I  had  a  horse  once,"  he  said,  "  that  I  trained  to 
do  this,  and  there  was  lots  of  times  when  it  was 
mighty  handy  to  me.  Most  folks  think  that  a  horse 
Is  just  a  fool  and  don't  know  nothing ;  but  it  ain't 
so.  A  horse,  if  you  treat  it  right,  is  a  mighty 
knowledgeable  critter,  but  most  people  don't  know 
enough  to  see  what  there  is  in  one,  and  think  you 
can't  get  nothing  out  of  it  without  you  use  a  quirt, 
spurs,  and  maybe  a  club.  Of  course  it's  a  mighty 
nervous  animal,  and  it's  always  been  used  to  being 
chased,  and  so  it  is  scary,  but  there's  lots  of  sense 
to  a  horse  if  you  take  it  right." 

At  length  Jack's  foot  was  well  enough  for  him  to 
ride  ;  but  his  first  two  or  three  rides  were  close 
about  the  ranch  and  on  old  Grey,  which  could  be 
trusted  not  to  make  any  sudden  movements,  and  so 
not  to  oblige  Jack  to  use  his  lame  foot,  which,  how- 

ever,  was  recovering  rapidly,  the  cold  water  treat- 
16 


242    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

ment,  which  Hugh  had  insisted  on  giving  it  having 
proved  very  effective. 

During  this  period  of  his  confinement,  Jack  had 
seen  more  of  Shep,  the  ranch  dog,  than  he  ever  had 
before.  This  was  a  big  yellow  shaggy  shepherd 
dog,  very  affectionate  and  a  very  good  watch  dog, 
but  rather  a  foolish,  puppy-like  beast,  that  was  not 
especially  popular  with  anyone.  Hugh  had  said  of 
him,  "  That  dog  there  thinks  he's  a  runner,  and  he 
thinks  he's  a  fighter  too,  and  he  ain't  neither  one  nor 
the  other.  He'll  start  off  and  chase  an  antelope  or 
a  jack  rabbit,  like  he  thought  he  was  going  to  catch 
it  without  any  trouble,  but  the  things  run  off  ahead 
of  him,  not  a  bit  scared,  and  he  just  runs  himself 
down  and  comes  back  with  his  tongue  hanging  out 
a  yard,  looking,  and  I  expect  feeling,  like  a  fool 
He  ain't  never  caught  nothing  yet,  and  I  don't 
expect  he  ever  will  catch  anything." 

It  was  after  dark  one  evening,  when  Jack  and 
Hugh  were  sitting  before  the  ranch  door,  and  Shep 
was  lying  at  Hugh's  feet,  that  they  heard  a  coyote 
howl  right  close  to  the  house.  The  dog  sprang  to 
his  feet  and  rushed  around  the  corner  of  the  house 
to  where  the  sound  had  come  from,  and  they  could 
hear  the  patter  of  his  feet  as  he  raced  down  toward 
the  blacksmith's  shop.  Suddenly  from  the  shop 
there  came  a  tumult  of  growling,  yelling  and  wor- 
rying, a  noise  as  if  a  lot  of  dogs  were  fighting. 

"  By  George  !  "  said  Hugh, "  I  believe  that  fool  dog 
has  ran  into  a  nest  of  coyotes."  Hugh  ran  around 
the  corner  of  the  house,  and  toward  the  sounds. 


OCCUPATIONS  OF  A  CRIPPLE       243 

which  still  continued,  and  Jack,  grasping  his  crutch, 
half  ran,  half  hopped,  after  him.  In  a  moment  he 
heard  Hugh  shouting,  the  noise  of  the  fighting 
ceased,  and  as  Jack  reached  the  corner  of  the  black- 
smith's shop,  he  met  Hugh  coming  back  with  Shep 
running  before  him. 

"  Well,  now,  what  do  you  suppose  I  found  when  I 
got  down  there  ? "  said  Hugh.  "  Just  inside  the 
garden  fence  was  this  dog  and  six  or  eight  coyotes 
on  top  of  him,  just  everlastingly  making  the  fur 
fly.  It's  mighty  lucky  for  him  that  he's  got  so  much 
of  this  long  yellow  hair  ;  if  he  hadn't  had,  he'd  have 
been  eaten  up  before  I  got  there.  I  expect  he's 
some  cut  up  as  it  is."  They  took  Shep  into  the 
kitchen,  and  by  the  light  of  the  lamp  looked  over 
him,  and  found  that,  as  Hugh  had  said,  he  was 
bitten  and  cut  in  a  dozen  places.  None  of  the 
wounds  were  very  serious,  but  only  his  shaggy  coat 
had  protected  him. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Hugh,  after  they  were  again 
seated  in  the  bright  moonlight,  "  I  believe  that  was 
just  a  scheme  of  them  coyotes  to  kill  this  dog.  You 
took  notice,  didn't  you,  how  close  that  one  that 
howled  was  to  us  ?  I  never  saw  a  coyote  come  so 
close  to  the  house  before.  I  believe  he  just  came 
up  here  to  tole  Shep  down  behind  the  black- 
smith's shop,  where  his  partners  were  waiting.  It 
was  a  pretty  sharp  trick  now,  wasn't  it  *  " 

A  few  days  after  this,  Hugh  and  Mr.  Sturgis 
looked  at  Jack's  foot  and  pronounced  it  well.  It 
no  longer  pained  him  at  all,  but  sometimes  he 


244    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

thought  it  felt  a  little  stiff  as  he  walked.  He  now 
resumed  his  riding  after  the  saddle  horses  and  the 
milk  cows,  and  besides  this,  went  out  almost  daily 
with  Hugh  or  with  his  uncle  on  their  excursions  in 
one  direction  or  another,  after  horses  and  cattle. 

One  day,  the  cows  that  had  been  kept  in  the 
pasture  were  brought  up  to  the  corrals,  in  order  that 
the  calves  might  be  branded.  They  were  all  put  in 
one  of  the  large  corrals  and  then,  one  by  one,  the 
cows  were  cut  out  and  driven  through  a  chute  into 
another  large  corral,  leaving  all  the  calves  together  ; 
then  the  branding  began.  Fires  were  built  just 
outside  the  corral  fence,  and  the  branding  irons  put 
in  them  to  heat.  Then,  one  by  one  the  calves  were 
roped,  thrown  and  held  down  until  the  hot  iron  had 
been  put  on  them.  It  took  a  long  time  to  brand 
the  hundred  and  four  calves  in  this  bunch,  and  by 
the  time  the  work  had  been  finished  all  hands  were 
hot,  tired  and  covered  with  dust.  It  was  a  relief  to 
every  one  when  the  gates  were  opened  and  the 
calves  and  their  mothers  allowed  to  come  together 
again. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  work- 
ing  cattle  and  horses  isn't  all  fun  ;  there's  a  heap  of 
hard  work  to  it,  and  I  believe  I'm  getting  pretty  old 
to  do  work  of  that  kind.  Fact  is,  you  see,  I  wasn't 
raised  to  this  sort  of  business.  We  didn't  have  no 
cattle  in  this  country  till  about  ten  or  a  dozen  years 
ago.  That's  the  reason  I  always  said  I  ain't  no  cow* 
man  and  won't  never  be.  A  man's  got  to  be  brung 
up  to  the  business  to  do  it  well." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

A    BERRYING     PARTY 

ONE  afternoon  as  Jack  was  up  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain  gathering  saddle  horses  he  saw  far  off  over 
the  prairie  a  waggon  and  two  riders  coming  toward 
the  ranch.  He  did  not  know  who  it  could  be. 
Since  the  horse  roundup  had  left,  no  strangers  had 
been  seen.  Soon  after  he  had  unsaddled,  the  team 
came  in  sight  over  the  hill,  and  at  length  it  was 
near  enough  for  him  to  recognise  that  one  of  the 
riders  was  a  woman,  and  that  there  were  two  people 
in  the  waggon.  A  little  later,  the  party  reached  the 
barn  and  proved  to  be  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Powell  and 
Charley  and  the  little  girl.  They  had  come  over  to 
visit  Mr.  Sturgis.  Mr.  Powell  wanted  to  kill  some 
meat,  and  Mrs.  Powell  said  that  she  had  determined 
to  come  with  him  and  to  ask  Mrs.  Carter  if  she 
would  not  go  up  on  the  mountains  with  her,  berry- 
ing. The  visitors  were  made  welcome.  While  they 
were  attending  to  the  horses,  Jack  said  to  Charley, 
"  How  are  the  wolf  puppies  getting  along  ?  Have 
they  got  tame  yet  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Charley,  "  I  can't  do  nothing  with 
them.  They're  just  as  afraid  of  me  now  as  they  were 

245 


246    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  day  we  got  them  ;  but  there's  something  mighty 
queer  about  them.  With  mother  and  Bess  they're 
right  tame ;  they  seem  to  like  to  see  them,  and  they 
take  meat  out  of  their  hands,  and  like  to  have  their 
heads  patted  and  to  be  scratched.  But  just  as  soon 
as  I  get  near  the  cage,  they  all  huddle  together  on 
the  other  side  of  it,  and  if  I  go  around  to  that  side 
they  run  away  to  the  other.  Same  way  with  father. 
They  seem  to  be  afraid  of  a  man,  but  they  don't 
mind  a  woman  a  mite.  Two  or  three  times  I've 
been  going  to  kill  them  all,  but  Bess  begged  so  hard 
for  me  to  keep  them  that  I  haven't  done  anything. 
She  says  she  reckons  she  can  make  'em  right  tame, 
but  that  won't  do  no  good  if  they're  always  scared 
of  a  man." 

"  Maybe  they  haven't  forgotten  that  you  and 
your  father  caught  *em,"  said  Jack. 

"  Maybe  they  haven't,"  said  Charley  ;  "  anyhow 
they're  awful  afraid  of  father  and  me ;  they're  doing 
right  well,  though,  growing  big  and  sleek  and  hand- 
some. They  make  friends  with  the  dogs  too.  Often 
I  see  one  of  the  dogs  with  his  nose  close  up  to  the 
bars  of  the  pen,  and  the  puppies  all  standing  there 
smelling  at  him  and  wagging  their  tails.  I  believe 
some  day  I'll  put  on  one  of  Bessie's  dresses  and  go 
down  there  and  see  if  they  won't  be  friendly  with 
me.  Let's  ask  Hugh  what  we  can  do  to  tame  them." 
As  the  boys  walked  to  the  house  they  overtook 
Hugh  and  put  this  question  to  him. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Hugh.  "  I've  seen 
mighty  few  tame  wolves.  Fact  is,  I  don't  know 


A  BERRYING  PARTY  24? 

that  I  ever  saw  any,  but  I've  talked  with  men  that 
claimed  to  have  had  'em,  and  they  all  said  that  it 
wan't  no  use  to  try  to  tame  'em  without  you  caught 
'em  when  they  was  little  bits  of  fellows  ;  a  good  deal 
smaller  than  these  were  when  we  caught  'em.  I  did 
know  one  man  that  had  a  wolf  that  he  said  followed 
him  round  just  like  a  dog,  but  he  caught  that  one 
when  it  was  a  little  mite  of  a  thing,  before  it  had  its 
eyes  open.  You  might  try  starving  these  of  yours, 
Charley;  not  give  'em  anything  to  eat  for  three  or 
four  days,  and  then  take  some  food  down  to  'em  and 
make  'em  take  it  out  of  your  hand  ;  that  might  make 
'em  lose  that  shyness,  but  I  don't  know  as  it  would. 
Anyhow,  it's  worth  trying.  But  I  expect  they'd  make 
a  heap  o*  noise  nights  while  you  were  starving  'em  ; 
might  cut  your  sleep  short  a  little  bit." 

"I  believe  I'll  try  that,  Hugh/'  said  Charley, 
"when  we  get  back.  They'll  be  kind  o'  used  to 
being  fed  by  Tom  while  we're  away,  and  maybe 
they'll  strike  up  some  sort  of  a  friendship  with  him, 
and  that'll  make  it  easier  for  me  when  we  get  back." 

"  It  does  seem  kind  o'  curious,"  said  Hugh,  "  that 
they  should  have  taken  to  the  gal  that  way." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Charley;  "they're  just  as 
friendly  with  her  as  can  be.  You  ask  her  to  tell 
you  about  how  they  act." 

The  three  sat  down  on  the  grass  near  the  kitchen 
door,  and  Charley  called  to  his  sister,  who  came  out 
and  sat  down  with  them. 

"Tell  me  about  them  wolf  puppies  of  yourn,  Sis," 
said  Hugh  ;  "  Charley  says  you've  made  'em  right 


248    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

tame  to  you,  but  they  won't  come  near  him.  How 
did  ye  do  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  don't  know,  Mr.  Hugh,"  said  Bess.  "  I 
used  to  go  down  and  sit  by  the  pen  and  watch 
them,  and  at  first  when  I  did  that,  they'd  all  crowd 
over  to  the  opposite  side  and  watch  me,  but 
after  I'd  been  doing  it  a  little  while  they  seemed 
to  kind  o*  get  used  to  me  and  forget  that  I  was 
there.  They'd  walk  round  and  keep  trying  to  get 
out,  and  sometimes  they'd  play  with  each  other, 
just  like  puppies,  and  sometimes  they'd  get  angry 
and  get  to  fighting.  Sometimes,  when  Charley  was 
away,  I  used  to  take  their  food  down  to  them,  and  at 
last  I  got  into  the  way  of  handing  them  bits  of 
meat  in  my  fingers.  At  first  they  wouldn't  touch  it, 
but  after  a  while  they  got  so  they'd  take  it,  and 
they've  been  getting  tamer  ever  since.  I  can  put 
my  hand  into  the  cage  now  and  pat  them  and  there 
isn't  one  of  them  that  will  snap  at  me." 

"  Sho,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  must  have  a  mighty 
good  way  with  animals." 

"  That's  so,"  said  Charley ;  "  she  has.  Two  years 
ago  she  took  a  bucking  colt  that  we  had,  that  nobody 
could  ride  without  getting  all  jarred  up,  and  com- 
menced to  fool  with  it,  and  now  it's  her  saddle  horse, 
the  one  she  rode  when  she  came  up  to-day." 

"  Sho,"  said  Hugh ;  "  didn't  it  hurt  you  when  he 
bucked  with  you,  Sis  ?  " 

"  Why,  no,  he  never  did  buck.  The  first  time  I 
got  on  him  he  went  off  as  quiet  as  could  be.  But 
I  didn't  try  to  ride  him  for  quite  a  while,  until  after 


A  BERRYING  PARTY  249 

I'd  made  friends  with  him.  Then  when  he  got  right 
tame,  I  used  to  take  him  up  to  the  horse  block  and 
get  on  it  and  pat  him  all  over,  and  at  last  one  day 
I  jumped  on  him  and  sat  there  for  a  little  while  and 
then  jumped  off,  and  did  this  for  a  good  many  days, 
and  then  I  tried  riding  him  a  little  way." 

'<  See  there  now,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  what  it  is  to 
understand  how  to  treat  an  animal.  If  we  had  a 
few  girls  like  you,  Bess,  working  the  horses  on  these 
prairies,  there  wouldn't  be  so  many  of  'em  mean  to 
ride." 

Before  supper  was  ended  that  evening  it  had  been 
agreed  that  all  hands  should  spend  the  next  day  on 
the  mountain,  gathering  raspberries,  which  grew 
there  in  great  abundance.  It  was  arranged  that  the 
women  should  make  an  early  start,  and  with  Joe  as 
driver  should  go  up  by  the  waggon  road,  while  the 
others,  on  saddle  horses,  should  ride  up  by  the 
short  trail.  They  would  lunch  and  spend  the  day 
on  the  heights,  returning  in  time  for  supper  in  the 
evening,  with  their  berries. 

By  nine  o'clock  next  morning,  those  who  had 
climbed  the  mountain  by  the  trail  were  scattered 
out  through  the  raspberry  patch,  hard  at  work  fill- 
ing their  buckets  with  the  delicious  fruit  An  hour 
or  two  later  the  waggon  arrived,  and  by  midday  all 
the  pails  were  filled. 

When  Mrs.  Carter  and  Mrs.  Powell  began  to  un- 
pack their  lunch,  Hugh  said  to  them,  "  If  you'll  wait 
half  an  hour  before  calling  people  to  eat,  I'll  bring 
you  something  that  you  haven't  seen  for  a  long 


250    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

time,  and  that  maybe  will  help  you  out  with  your 
drinking,  if  not  with  your  eating."  He  called  Jack 
and  Charley  to  follow,  and  taking  a  couple  of  gunny 
sacks  in  his  hand,  strode  off  through  the  timber. 
The  three  climbed  briskly  the  tall  rocky  hill,  and 
emerging  from  the  forest  on  to  the  slope  above, 
found  themselves  standing  at  the  edge  of  a  deep 
and  narrow  gorge,  in  the  bottom  of  which  still  lay  a 
snowdrift.  "  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  let's  jump  down 
there  and  fill  these  sacks  with  this  snow,  and  take 
it  back  to  the  women.  I  know  Mrs.  Carter  fetched 
a  jug  of  cream  along,  and  a  lot  of  sugar,  and  if  we 
take  them  back  some  of  this  clean  snow,  maybe  she 
can  make  some  ice-cream.  How  would  that  go  with 
the  berries,  eh  ?  " 

"  First  class,"  said  both  the  boys.  Jumping  down 
into  the  snow  they  scraped  away  the  dusty  surface 
and  partly  filled  the  sacks  with  clean  white  snow. 
Then  Hugh  shouldered  the  heavier  of  the  two,  and 
Charley  Powell  the  lighter  one  and  they  made  their 
way  down  the  hill  to  the  party  again. 

When  Mrs.  Carter  saw  the  snow  she  declared  at 
once  that  she  would  give  them  ice-cream  for  their 
lunch,  and  before  long  all  hands  were  enjoying  the 
unusual  luxury. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  party 
separated  again,  the  waggon  carrying  the  women 
back  by  the  road,  while  the  others  began  slowly  to 
saddle  up  to  return  by  the  trail.  Bess  was  the  first 
to  mount,  and  set  out  down  the  mountain,  closely 
followed  by  Shep,  the  ranch  dog,  which  seemed  to 


A  BERRYING  PARTY  251 

have  taken  a  great  fancy  to  her.  The  others  foU 
lowed,  but  had  not  overtaken  the  little  girl  when 
suddenly  they  heard  Shep  bark  furiously,  and 
Bessie's  voice  calling  eagerly,  "  Oh,  hurry,  hurry ! 
Here's  a  bob-cat  up  in  a  tree." 

Jack  was  the  first  to  arrive  on  the  scene,  to  find 
Bess  sitting  on  her  horse,  pointing  up  into  a  big 
pine,  at  the  foot  of  which  Shep  stood  looking  up  in 
great  excitement,  barking  angrily  at  a  wildcat  that 
was  perched  among  the  branches,  half  way  up  the 
tree.  Jack's  first  impulse  was  to  shoot  the  brute, 
but  before  he  did  so,  he  had  a  thought,  and  jumping 
off  his  horse  he  walked  up  to  Bessie  and  said, 
"  Wouldn't  you  like  to  shoot  it,  Bessie  ?  Take  my 
gun  if  you  would." 

By  this  time  Hugh  and  Charley  were  there,  and 
the  latter  was  about  to  shoot  at  the  cat  with  his 
pistol,  but  Hugh  said,  "  Hold  on,  boy ;  let's  see 
whether  Bessie  don't  want  to  kill  it." 

Bess  said,  "  I'd  like  real  well  to  shoot  it,  Jack,  if 
you'll  let  me.  I  don't  like  bob-cats.  This  spring, 
one  of  'em  carried  off  one  of  my  setting  hens,  and 
all  the  little  chickens  died." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "you  better  hop  off  and  shoot 
it ;  it's  liable  not  to  stay  there  much  longer." 

Bessie  jumped  to  the  ground  and  took  the  rifle. 

Jack  said  to  her,  "  Draw  it  down  just  as  fine  as 
you  can,  and  try  to  shoot  him  just  back  of  the 
shoulder  and  low  down." 

The  little  girl  put  the  gun  to  her  shoulder  as  if 
she  were  used  to  it,  and  in  a  moment  it  rang  out, 


252     JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

and  the  wildcat,  jumping  far  out  from  the  branches, 
fell  to  the  ground  and  was  at  once  pounced  on  by 
Shep.  When  they  walked  up  to  it,  it  was  quite 
dead.  "  Now,"  said  Jack,  "  we'll  take  him  to  the 
ranch  and  skin  him,  and  you  can  take  the  hide  home 
with  you  when  you  go." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  it'll  make  you  a  nice  mat, 
only  it's  a  pity  the  fur's  so  thin ;  it  ain't  begun  to 
get  good  yet.  Two  months  from  now  it  will  be 
right  thick  and  warm,  but  the  winter  coat  hasn't 
hardly  started  yet." 

Bess  felt  very  proud  of  her  shot  and  wanted  to 
have  the  wildcat  tied  on  behind  her  saddle,  but 
Charley  said,  "  No,  I'm  afraid  it  might  make  that 
horse  buck,  and  I  don't  want  to  get  you  thrown  off 
on  this  side  hill."  Finally  Hugh  took  the  cat,  and 
they  went  on  to  the  ranch. 

When  they  reached  the  house  Jack  and  Charley 
skinned  the  cat  and  pegged  the  hide  out  on  the 
grass  to  dry.  After  this  had  been  done,  Jack  took 
Bess  and  Charley  and  showed  them  the  calf  elk, 
which  was  now  quite  big  and  had  lost  its  summer 
coat  and  its  spots.  Bess  admired  it  greatly.  "  It 
isn't  nearly  as  pretty,"  she  said,  "  as  the  young 
antelope,  and  it  carries  its  head  in  a  clumsy  way, 
but  it  seems  strong  and  graceful,  and  isn't  it  tame  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  it's  tame  enough,  and  it  looks 
nicely  enough,  but  it's  a  stupid  beast ;  it  seems  to 
have  no  sense,  and  not  to  care  for  anything  except 
just  eating.  I  like  even  my  ducks  better  than  this 
elk.  Let's  go  and  try  to  find  them ;  they  wander 


A  BERRYING  PARTY  253 

about  so  that  I  never  know  just  where  they  are ; 
but  maybe  we  can  find  them  somewhere  along  the 
brook."  After  a  good  deal  of  searching  and  calling, 
the  ducks  were  discovered  a  long  distance  down  the 
brook.  They  were  now  as  large  as  old  birds,  and 
fully  feathered,  and  were  pretty,  graceful  little 
creatures.  Charley  declared  that  the  small  ones 
were  teal,  for  he  had  killed  some  like  them  the  fall 
before. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  they're  teal  all  right  enough ; 
I  looked  them  up  in  my  Uncle  Will's  bird  book. 
They're  what  the  book  calls  cinnamon  teal.  It's  a 
kind  of  duck  that  we  don't  have  in  the  east ;  it  only 
lives  out  here  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  toward 
the  Pacific  Ocean." 

That  night  Bess  had  a  fine  time  telling  the  story 
of  how  the  bob-cat  had  been  killed.  It  had  been  start- 
ed from  near  to  the  trail  by  the  dog,  which  followed 
it  so  fast  that  it  ran  up  a  tree  almost  before  Bess 
saw  it.  Then  she  had  called  to  the  others. 

As  Jack  was  going  to  bed  that  night  Mr.  Sturgis 
shook  hands  with  him  and  said :  "  It  was  very  nice 
of  you,  Jack,  to  let  the  little  girl  shoot  that  bob-cat, 
instead  of  doing  it  yourself.  I  like  to  see  a  boy  do 
a  thing  of  that  kind." 


CHAPTER  XXV 

AN  ELK  HUNT 

AT  breakfast  next  morning,  Mr.  Powell  said  to 
Hugh  :  "  Do  you  suppose  you  could  take  them  two 
boys  up  on  to  the  mountain  and  kill  three  or  four  elk  ? 
I  want  to  talk  with  Mr.  Sturgis  to-day  about  getting 
some  of  these  saddle  horses  of  his,  and  I'd  like  to  go 
on  home  to-morrow,  but  I  want  to  take  some  meat 
with  me.  If  you  and  the  boys  can  kill  it,  I'll  stay 
down  here  at  the  ranch  while  you're  gone." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  why  the  three 
of  us  can't  kill  what  you  need,  as  well  as  four,  and  if 
Mr.  Sturgis  hasn't  anything  else  for  me  to  do,  I'll 
take  the  boys  up  on  the  hill  and  we'll  see  what  we 
can  find." 

Mr.  Sturgis  told  them  by  all  means  to  go.  Char- 
ley got  his  rifle  out  of  the  wagon,  Hugh  and  Jack 
caught  and  saddled  a  couple  of  pack  horses,  and 
they  were  soon  climbing  the  trail. 

When  they  had  reached  the  plateau,  they  rode 
north  for  three  miles  until  they  had  come  to  a  little 
open  park,  where  there  was  a  spring  and  good  grass. 
Here  they  picketed  out  all  the  horses  to  feed,  and 
set  out  to  hunt  on  foot.  They  passed  through  a 
254 


AN  ELK  HUNT  255 

piece  of  dead  timber  and  soon  came  upon  signs  of 
elk.  Most  of  the  tracks  were  old,  and  they  had  gone 
some  little  distance  before  they  saw  anything  show- 
ing that  game  had  passed  along  recently.  The 
country  here  became  more  rough  and  broken,  and 
the  green  timber  grew  in  scattering  clumps.  As 
each  ridge  was  reached,  a  pause  was  made,  and  the 
ravine  below  carefully  looked  over  before  they 
showed  themselves  above  the  hill.  There  were  great 
masses  of  red  granite  and  scattering  pines  and  groves 
of  quaking  aspens,  which  made  good  cover,  but  all 
this  ground  had  to  be  carefully  looked  over,  so 
that  their  advance  was  slow.  Both  Jack  and  Charley 
had  hunted  enough  now  so  that  they  did  not  talk, 
or,  if  they  spoke,  they  did  so  in  very  low  tones. 
After  a  time,  Hugh,  who  was  ahead,  came  upon  a 
fresh  trail  made  by  eight  or  ten  elk,  and  this  they 
followed.  The  animals  were  moving  along  slowly, 
but  feeding  as  they  moved.  Sometimes  they  would 
scatter  out  a  little  to  nibble  at  the  tufts  of  grass 
growing  among  the  rocks,  or  to  crop  the  tender  twigs 
of  the  young  aspens,  but  they  did  not  loiter  much. 
The  trail  was  fresh  and  showed  that  it  had  been 
made  within  a  few  hours — since  the  sun  had  risen. 
Hugh  told  the  boys  that  they  would  have  to  go  very 
slowly  and  carefully,  for  they  would  probably  come 
on  the  game  soon  after  noon,  when  it  was  lying 
down,  and  that  this  was  the  worst  time  at  which  to 
approach  any  game,  for  then  it  has  nothing  to  do 
except  to  watch  for  the  approach  of  its  enemies. 
They  followed  the  trail,  hurrying  where  they 


256    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

could,  but  being  very  cautious  as  they  went  over  the 
hills ;  but  though  the  trail  grew  fresher,  so  that  at 
one  place  where  they  crossed  a  little  stream,  the 
muddy  water  was  still  standing  in  the  tracks  of  the 
elk,  they  saw  nothing  of  them.  They  had  gone 
down  into  a  valley  wider  than  most  of  those  that 
they  had  crossed,  and  were  approaching  the  little 
creek  which  flowed  down  through  it.  Along  the 
stream  bed  grew  a  narrow  belt  of  tall  pines,  and 
beyond  this  was  some  dead  standing  timber  with 
young  pines  growing  among  it  only  three  or  four 
feet  high.  As  the  hunters  approached  the  belt  of 
green  timber,  a  stick  cracked  just  beyond  it,  and,  at 
the  same  moment,  something  was  seen  to  move.  A 
moment  later,  Jack,  who  was  a  little  to  the  right  of 
Hugh,  and  behind  him,  saw  an  elk,  and  without  a 
second's  delay,  raised  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and 
fired,  and  the  elk  hobbled  off  a  hundred  yards  and 
fell  among  some  low  junipers.  Meantime,  Hugh 
and  Charley  had  run  through  the  belt  of  timber  and 
saw  half  a  dozen  elk  among  the  dead  trees  beyond. 
There  were  a  cow  and  calf,  a  young  bull  and  three 
heifers.  At  the  sound  of  Jack's  gun  the  animals 
jumped  here  and  there,  apparently  unable  to  tell 
where  the  noise  had  come  from. 

Hugh  pitched  his  gun  to  his  shoulder  and  fired 
at  the  bull,  whose  shoulder  he  could  just  see  through 
a  narrow  opening  between  two  trees.  Charley  fired 
at  a  heifer,  but  did  not  see  her  fall,  and  then,  slip- 
ping in  another  cartridge,  he  fired  again  at  a  fat  cow 
that  was  dashing  along  through  the  low  brush 


AN  ELK  HUNT  257 

over  the  down  timber  at  a  rate  that  would  soon 
have  carried  her  out  of  sight.  The  cow  fell,  and 
Hugh,  turning,  called  to  the  boys  not  to  shoot 
again.  "  We've  got  three  elk,"  he  said,  "  maybe 
four ;  all  the  meat  Powell  wants,  and  all  that  we 
can  carry  down  the  hill  in  one  load." 

The  boys  came  toward  him,  and  they  started  to 
look  over  the  ground  to  see  what  they  had  killed. 
The  bull  was  dead  ;  so  were  Jack's  heifer  and  the  two 
that  Charley  had  shot  at. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  we've  pretty  near  got  more 
than  we  know  what  to  do  with,  but  I  guess  we  can 
take  it  all  down,  but  we'll  have  to  pack  the  saddle 
horses.  Now,  son,  can  you  go  back  to  where  the 
horses  are  and  bring  them  on,  while  Charley  and  I 
butcher?" 

"Yes,  I'm  pretty  sure  I  can  find  them,"  replied 
Jack.  "  I  noticed  which  way  we  came  and  I  don't 
think  I'll  have  any  trouble." 

"  All  right,"  said  Hugh,  "  we've  got  quite  a  job 
here,  butchering,  and  I'd  like  to  keep  Charley 
because  he  knows  something  about  it ;  but  if  you 
think  you  can't  find  the  horses,  you'd  better  stay 
here  and  let  Charley  go  and  get  *em." 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I'm  sure  I  can  find  them,  and 
I'll  bring  them."  Jack  started;  the  distance  was 
greater  than  he  had  supposed,  but  he  had  watched 
the  country  as  they  were  following  the  elk  trail  and 
he  had  no  trouble  in  getting  back  to  where  the 
horses  were.  He  tied  up  the  rope  of  one  of  the 
pack  animals  and  fastened  it  to  the  saddle,  put  the 
17 


258    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

reins  of  the  two  saddle  horses  over  the  saddle  horns, 
mounted  Pawnee,  and,  leading  one  pack  horse,  start- 
ed back  toward  his  companions.  The  three  loose 
animals  followed  very  well,  and  he  had  no  trouble 
with  them,  and  it  was  not  long  before  all  five  were 
tied  up  in  a  little  park  close  to  where  Hugh  and 
Charley  were  at  work.  These  had  butchered  and 
cut  up  the  elk,  and  had  dragged  the  meat  up  to  the 
edge  of  this  park. 

Before  packing  the  horses,  Hugh  sat  down  and 
filled  his  pipe.  From  the  park  where  they  were 
sitting  they  could  see,  through  an  opening  in  the 
trees,  the  broad  valley  where  the  ranch  stood.  The 
wide  stretch  of  gray,  brown  and  yellow  was  marked 
here  and  there  by  winding  lines  of  vivid  green, 
showing  the  courses  of  the  little  brooks ;  the  tiny 
lakes,  blue  as  the  sky  which  they  reflected,  lay  like 
gems  in  the  sombre  setting.  Far  beyond  were  the 
white  bluffs,  and  again  to  the  south  the  brick  red 
point  of  a  tall  mountain,  running  up  to  black  pine- 
clad  ridges.  It  was  very  still.  No  breeze  stirred 
the  sprays  of  the  pines ;  even  the  leaves  of  the 
aspens  hung  motionless.  The  air  was  fragrant  with 
the  odour  of  pine  and  sage,  and  soft  and  smoky, 
like  an  Indian  summer  day.  It  was  a  time  for  being 
lazy,  and  Hugh  smoked  slowly,  as  if  he  wanted  to 
make  his  pipe  last  as  long  as  possible. 

At  length  it  was  smokecf  out,  and  he  rose  to  his 
feet,  saying,  "  Well,  I'd  like  to  set  here  all  day,  but 
we've  got  to  get  this  meat  to  camp." 

The  heavy  loads  were  put  on  the  pack  horses,  and 


AN  ELK  HUNT  259 

then,  using  their  lariats,  they  slung  a  pair  of  elk  hams 
across  the  saddle  of  each  riding  animal,  and,  on  foot, 
started  for  the  ranch. 

"  I  expect,  son,"  said  Hugh,  as  they  moved  off, 
"  you'd  have  liked  to  bring  that  bull's  head  along." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  I  thought  of  that.  It  isn't  a 
very  big  one  and  I  didn't  kill  it  myself,  but  still  I 
would  like  to  save  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  we  might  have  brung  it  if 
we  hadn't  killed  so  much  meat,  but  you  see  these 
horses  now  are  all  pretty  well  loaded,  and  we've  got 
some  timber  to  go  through,  and  an  elk's  head's  a 
mighty  unhandy  thing  to  pack,  anyhow,  and  it  ain't 
a  very  big  head,  so  I  thought  maybe  we'd  leave  it. 
You'll  have  plenty  of  chances  before  long  to  get  a 
better  one." 

"  All  right,"  said  Jack  ;  "  but  I  want  to  get  a  big 
head  before  I  start  back  east.  I'd  like  to  get  one 
bigger  than  Uncle  Will  has  back  there  ;  that  always 
looked  awful  big  to  me,  and  I'd  feel  proud  if  I  could 
kill  a  bigger  one." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "that  was  a  nice  head.  I 
mind  when  he  killed  it.  I  expect  he  was  pretty 
proud  of  that,  himself.  Your  uncle  was  pretty 
keen  to  hunt  when  he  first  came  out  into  this 
country,  but  he  don't  seem  to  care  much  for  it  now; 
except  bear,  he  always  likes  to  kill  bear,  and  I 
expect  he  likes  to  kill  sheep,  too." 

"  Tell  you  what  it  is,  Jack,"  said  Charley,  "  we've 
got  a  mighty  good  head  on  top  of  the  barn,  over  at 
our  place,  and  if  you  don't  get  one  that  suits  you 


260    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

before  you  go,  if  you  come  over,  you  can  have  that 
one.  We  don't  want  it,  and  it's  a  mighty  good  one* 
I  tell  you.  Three  or  four  men  that's  come  by  the 
place  have  wanted  to  buy  it,  but  father  wouldn't 
sell  it  to  'em.  He'd  be  tickled,  though,  if  you'd 
take  it.  He  thinks  a  whole  lot  of  you." 

"  Thank  you,  Charley,"  said  Jack  ;  "  maybe  I'll  do 
it,  if  I  don't  get  a  good  head  ;  but  I  want  one  that 
I've  killed  myself." 

"  Yes,  of  course,"  said  Charley ;  "  but  I  mean  if 
you  don't  happen  to  kill  one." 

They  had  almost  reached  the  park,  leading  to 
the  trail,  when,  crossing  through  some  dense  green 
timber,  where  the  ground  was  wet  underfoot,  Hugh 
stopped  and  said :  "  Come  up  here,  son ;  here  are 
some  birds  you  never  saw  before."  Jack  dropped 
the  reins  of  his  horse  and  stepped  up  beside  Hugh, 
who  pointed  out  to  him  four  or  five  birds,  smaller 
than  chickens,  standing  beneath  a  great  pine,  and 
two  or  three  more  perched  on  its  lower  limbs. 
"  Those,"  said  Hugh,  "  are  what  we  call  fool  hens, 
they're  some  like  blue  grouse,  but  not  near  so  large. 
They're  the  gentlest  birds  in  the  mountains.  Just 
walk  up  to  them  slowly,  and  see  how  close  you  can 
get  to  them  before  they  move." 

Jack  approached  the  birds  with  slow,  cautious 
steps,  and  not  until  he  was  within  ten  feet  of  them 
did  they  seem  to  notice  him ;  then,  one  or  two  of 
them  stretched  up  their  necks  and  looked  at  him, 
ruffling  up  the  feathers  about  their  heads  in  a 
curious  way.  The  birds  sitting  on  a  limb  of  the 


AN  ELK  HUNT  26* 

tree  still  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  seemed  half 
asleep,  their  necks  drawn  in,  and  their  feathers 
puffed  out.  As  Jack  advanced  still  nearer,  two  or 
three  of  the  birds  on  the  ground  walked  away  from 
him,  while  two  others  sprang  up  into  the  low  limbs 
of  the  pine,  and  stood  there  with  necks  outstretched, 
gazing  at  him. 

"  Now,"  said  Hugh,  "  we  ain't  got  no  time  now  to 
fool  with  them  birds,  but  if  we  had,  you  could  cut  a 
stick,  and  put  a  string  with  a  noose  on  the  end  of  it, 
and  drop  it  over  their  heads  and  catch  one  or  two 
of  'em,  maybe  more.  That's  what  gives  'em  their 
name ;  they're  so  gentle  that  folks  just  call  them 
fool  hens." 

Charley,  who  had  come  up,  said,  "  I  believe  if  I 
had  a  rock  or  two  I  could  kill  those  fellows  ;  but 
there  ain't  no  rocks  here,  it's  all  just  this  muck, 
under  foot." 

"Oh,  let  'em  alone,"  said  Hugh;  "we've  killed 
meat  enough  for  one  day." 

11  Well,"  said  Mr.  Powell,  when  they  reached  the 
ranch  that  night,  "  you  youngsters  have  done  well, 
and  I've  got  my  meat  without  working  for  it.  I 
expect  you  all  had  a  hand  in  this  killing." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  but  Charley  did  the  best  of 
any  of  us;  he  killed  two,  and  Hugh  and  I  only  got 
one  apiece." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  Charley  done  well.  By  rights, 
though,  we  hadn't  ought  to  have  killed  more  than 
one  elk  apiece,  but  I  knew  you  wanted  meat,  and 
there  wasn't  much  time  to  talk  about  it  when  the 


262    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

*elk  jumped  up.  By  rights  I  oughtn't  to  have  shot 
at  all,  for  I  might  have  known  these  boys  could  do 
the  killing,  but  I  saw  the  bull,  and  I  knew  he'd  be 
in  good  order,  and  so  I  killed  him ;  but  as  soon  as  I 
«saw  what  was  down,  and  spoke  to  the  boys,  they 
stopped  right  off.  They're  good  boys  to  hunt 
with  ;  I  don't  want  to  see  any  better.  I  don't  know 
'who  taught  Charley  how  to  hunt,  but  he  under- 
•stands  himself  pretty  well." 

The  meat  was  hung  up  to  cool  where  it  would  be 
•out  of  the  reach  of  the  coyotes  and  the  next  morn, 
ing,  with  a  loaded  waggon,  Mr.  Powell  and  his  wife 
•drove  off  toward  their  ranch.  Bess  and  Charley 
stopped  behind  for  a  little  while,  talking  with  Jack, 
who  promised  that  if  he  could,  he  would  ride  over 
to  the  ranch  once  more  before  he  went  back  east. 

At  last  the  young  people  mounted  and  started. 
Just  as  they  did  so,  Jack  called  out :  "  Do  the  best 
you  can  to  tame  those  wolf  puppies,  Charley.  I 
want  to  take  one  of  them  east  with  me,  if  I  possibly 
can." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE 

JACK  had  noticed  that  the  horns  of  the  bull  elk, 
killed  the  day  before  by  Hugh,  were  white  and  pol- 
ished, and  that  the  rough  part  near  the  base  seemed 
to  be  full  of  little  fragments  of  bark,  while  at  the 
very  base,  where  the  horns  joined  the  head,  there 
were  bits  of  dried,  thin  skin,  and  marks  of  blood. 
He  spoke  to  Hugh  about  this,  and  asked  if  these 
horns  were  not  now  full  grown. 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  they're  hard  now,  and  the 
velvet  has  been  rubbed  off,  a-nd  when  the  velvet  is 
gone  they  don't  grow  no  more.  A  bull  carries  his 
horns  until  along  toward  spring,  say  in  March,  and 
then  they  drop  off.  I  expect  likely  your  uncle  has 
told  you  how  these  horns  grow,  and  I  mind  that  you 
killed  a  bull,  yourself,  along  in  the  spring,  when  the 
horns  hadn't  much  more  than  started." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Jack.  "  Uncle  Will  has  told  me 
all  about  how  the  horns  grow.  It  would  be  hard 
to  believe,  if  one  didn't  know  that  it  was  so,  that 
these  great  big  horns  grow  in  just  a  few  months." 

"  That's  what  they  do,"  said  Hugh,  "  and  as  soon 
as  they  are  hard,  and  the  velvet  has  been  cleaned 

off  them,  the  bulls  begin  to  travel  about  and  gather 

263 


264    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

up  their  families.  It's  wonderful  to  see  the  way 
an  old  bull  will  travel  over  the  country,  hunting  it 
just  as  careful  as  can  be,  to  find  cows,  and  when  he 
gets  one  or  two  or  three,  he  rounds  'em  up  and 
drives  'em  ahead  of  him  over  the  country  that  he's 
hunting.  I've  watched  a  bull  all  day  long,  travel 
along  the  foot  of  a  range  of  high  hills,  going  up 
every  ravine  and  hunting  it  out,  just  about  as  faith- 
ful as  a  hunting  dog  would,  and  a  few  days  after,  I 
have  ridden  in  that  same  range  of  country  and  found 
the  same  old  bull,  with  a  bunch  of  eighteen  or  twenty 
cows  and  calves  and  heifers,  that  he'd  managed  to 
gather  up  in  that  time." 

"This  is  the  time  of  year  when  they  whistle,  isn't 
it,  Hugh?"  said  Jack. 

"Yes,  for  about  a  month  now,  sometimes  for 
longer,  you  can  hear  'em  whistle  to  each  other  on 
the  hills.  I  expect  it's  a  kind  of  a  brag ;  one  saying, 
'  Here  I  am  ;  I'm  the  boss  of  this  range,'  and  another, 
on  another  hill,  calling  out,  '  Here  I  am  ;  I'm  the 
boss.'  I've  seen  it  where  you  could  hear  a  dozen 
bulls  whistling  at  the  same  time.  It's  a  mighty 
nice  sound  when  you  hear  it  a  little  way  off,  but  if 
you're  close  to  the  bull  that's  calling,  it  sounds  more 
like  a  part  of  the  neighing  of  a  horse,  and  ain't  nice 
or  pretty." 

"  Then  the  elk  are  travelling  around  a  good  deal 
now,  are  they,  Hugh  ?  " 

" No,  not  right  now,"  said  Hugh;  "but  in  the 
course  of  a  week  they'll  be  travelling  and  whistling. 
Just  about  now  the  bulls  are  in  the  finest  kind  of 


JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE        265 

order,  fat  as  beef  steers,  but  just  as  soon  as  they  be- 
gin to  travel  and  hunt  for  cows,  and  fight,  they  be- 
gin to  lose  their  fat ;  and  along  about  next  month, 
say  the  middle  of  October,  they  get  right  poor,  and 
ain't  fit  to  eat.  You  see,  at  this  time  of  the  year  the 
bull  has  his  work  cut  out  for  him  ;  he's  got  to  hunt 
up  cows,  keep  'em  together,  drive  off  the  young 
bulls,  and  fight  the  old  ones." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  fight,  Hugh  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Plenty  of  *em,"  was  the  reply.  "  They  charge 
each  other,  head  on,  and  push  and  push,  as  hard  as 
you  ever  see  two  range  bulls  push.  Their  horns 
clatter  right  smart  when  they  come  together,  and 
there  they  stand,  head  to  head,  noses  down,  and 
just  shove  and  shove.  If  both  of  'em  are  the  same 
size  they  may  keep  that  up  for  an  hour  or  two,  but 
if  one  is  considerable  bigger  than  the  other,  he  will 
push  the  little  fellow  back,  slowly  at  first,  but  grad- 
ually faster  and  faster,  until  he  gets  a  side  push  on 
him,  and  then  the  little  fellow's  got  to  be  mighty 
spry,  to  get  out  of  the  way  before  the  big  one  hits 
him  with  his  horns." 

"  It  must  be  great  to  see  a  fight  like  that,"  said 
Jack. 

"  Well,  you'd  think  so  ;  two  big  animals  and  with 
big  horns  like  that,  but  really,  it  ain't  much  fun ; 
they  fight  so  slow ;  there's  no  jumping  around,  no 
quick  work.  I'd  sooner  see  a  pair  of  range  bulls 
fight ;  they've  got  more  go  to  'em." 

"  Still,  I'd  like  mighty  well  to  see  it,"  said  Jack. 

"Well,"   said   Hugh,   " maybe  we'll  get  to  see  it 


266    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

before  this  month's  over;  we  can't  tell,  though. 
There's  one  thing  I  don't  want  to  do,  and  that  is, 
to  camp  in  among  a  lot  of  elk  at  this  time  of  year ; 
they  make  so  much  noise  with  their  whistling,  and 
their  running  around,  and  their  splashing  water  (if 
it's  near  a  lake  or  a  creek),  a  man  don't  get  no  chance 
to  sleep.  I've  seen  it  where  I've  had  to  get  up  at 
night  and  fire  my  rifle  in  the  direction  of  the  elk  to 
see  if  I  couldn't  drive  'em  away." 

"  Hugh,  if  I  were  to  tell  that  at  home,  in  the  east, 
I  don't  think  people  would  believe  me." 

"  Well,  of  course,"  said  Hugh,  "  there's  lots  of 
things  happens  out  in  this  western  country  that 
seems  strange  to  people  that  live  back  east  there. 
I  suppose  they  could  tell  me  a  lot  of  things  that 
happens  back  there  that  I'd  find  it  pretty  hard  to 
swallow." 

Later  in  the  day,  Joe  said  to  Jack,  "  Jack,  you're 
getting  to  be  quite  a  cow  puncher,  but  there's  one 
thing  you  ain't  done  yet ;  you  ain't  ridden  a  wild 
horse." 

"  That's  so,  Joe ;  but  I'm  afraid  my  legs  are  pretty 
short  to  hold  on  to  a  bucking  horse." 

"  Well,  yes,"  said  Joe,  "  they  are  a  little  short,  but 
we've  got  a  wild  horse  out  here,  or  anyhow,  a  horse 
that  ain't  never  been  ridden,  that  I  believe  you 
could  ride.  Don't  you  want  to  try  it  now,  and  sur- 
prise your  uncle  and  the  old  man  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course,  Joe ;  I'd  like  to  do  that,  if  I 
thought  I  could  stick  on,  but  I  wouldn't  like  to  get 
thrown  off." 


JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE       267 

"  Well,  now  look  here,"  said  Joe,  "  you  know  that 
orphan  colt  ?  He's  coming  three  years  old,  and  he's 
just  as  tame  as  tame  can  be.  Let's  you  and  me  get 
him  into  the  corral  and  put  a  saddle  on  him,  any- 
how, and  see  what  he  does.  I  don't  believe  he'll  be- 
a  mite  afraid  of  the  saddle,  and  I  expect  he'd  carry 
you  right  off  as  gentle  as  can  be.  You'd  feel  kind 
of  good  if  you  could  ride  him  up  to  the  house  and 
show  him  to  your  uncle  and  Hugh,  and  say  that 
you'd  broke  him  yourself." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Joe,  that  would  be  fine ;  I'd  like 
that,  sure." 

"  Well,  let's  go  down  and  try  him  now ;  he's  over 
there  in  the  pasture,  and  we  can  get  him  in  and 
saddle  him  up,  anyhow." 

They  had  no  trouble  whatever  in  getting  the  or. 
phan  into  the  corral.  His  mother  had  died  when  he 
was  a  little  fellow,  and  he  had  been  reared  by  hand. 
After  he  was  in  the  corral  they  walked  up  to  him 
and  put  a  rope  about  his  neck,  and  led  him  back  and 
forth.  Then  Joe  got  Jack's  saddle  and  bridle,  and 
both  were  put  on  the  colt  without  any  trouble.  He 
stood  perfectly  still,  but,  as  the  cinch  was  being 
drawn  tight,  he  turned  his  head  and  looked  back  at 
himself,  as  if  he  wondered  what  in  the  world  they 
were  trying  to  do  with  him.  After  the  saddle  had 
been  put  on,  he  was  led  up  and  down,  and  although 
he  walked  awkwardly,  he  still  made  no  signs  of 
giving  trouble. 

"  Now,"  said  Joe,  "  I  know  he  ain't  going  to  do 
anything.  If  you  like,  I'll  get  on  him  and  ride  him 


268    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

round  a  little  bit,  myself,  just  to  see  how  he  acts, 
but  of  course  if  I  do  that  then  you  can't  say  you 
were  the  first  man  to  mount  him." 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  he  seems  quiet ;  I'll  get  on 
him,  myself ;  but  let's  take  him  out  of  the  corral 
and  on  to  the  grass,  where  it  will  be  softer  if  he 
throws  me." 

"  All  right,"  said  Joe ;  and  they  led  the  colt  to 
the  gate  and  out  on  to  the  smooth,  level  flat,  where 
the  sod  was  soft  and  springy. 

"  Now,"  said  Joe,  "  you  can  mount  here,  if  you 
want  to,  or  maybe  I'd  better  run  him  about  a  little, 
so  that  he  can  feel  the  string  and  stirrups  flapping 
against  his  sides,  and  get  used  to  'em." 

Joe  ran  a  quarter  of  a  mile  down  the  valley,  lead- 
ing the  horse,  which  galloped  after  him  quietly 
enough,  except  that  now  and  then,  when  one  of  the 
stirrups  knocked  hard  against  his  side,  he  pranced 
and  sheered  off  to  one  side.  When  Joe  reached 
Jack  again,  he  said :  "  He's  as  awkward  as  can  be, 
and  don't  know  nothing.  Of  course,  he  may  throw 
you,  or  he  may  fall  with  you,  but  I  don't  believe  he 
will.  You  better  try  him  anyhow.  Get  on,  and  I'll 
try  and  keep  along  with  you.  Just  start  in  slowly  at 
first."  Jack  mounted,  and  the  horse  stood  perfectly 
still.  He  kept  on  standing  still,  for  when  Jack  lifted 
the  bridle  and  clucked  to  him,  and  stuck  his  heels 
into  his  ribs,  the  colt,  not  knowing  what  these  signs 
meant,  did  not  move. 

"  Hold  on,"  said  Joe,  "  I'll  hit  him  behind  with 
the  rope  ;  maybe  that'll  start  him."  He  did  so,  and 


JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE        269 

the  horse  took  a  jump  or  two  forward,  and  then 
again  stood  fast. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  we've  got  to  do,"  said  Joe ; 
"  I'll  have  to  lead  him  for  a  while." 

"  That'll  be  a  queer  sort  of  horse-breaking,"  said 
Jack ;  "  me  sitting  on  the  horse  and  you  leading 
him  around." 

"  Never  you  mind,"  said  Joe  ;  "  it  ain't  breaking 
this  horse  needs,  it's  education,  but  he  needs  that  a 
whole  lot." 

He  put  the  rope  around  the  horse's  neck,  and 
when  Jack  again  lifted  his  bridle  rein,  and  dug  his 
heels  into  the  animal's  ribs,  Joe  pulled  on  the  rope, 
and  the  colt  started.  This  was  repeated  a  good 
many  times,  and  at  last  the  orphan  seemed  to  realize 
something  of  what  was  wanted  of  him,  and  Jack 
found  that  he  could  ride  him  about  the  flat  at  a 
walk,  without  difficulty.  By  this  time  he  was  feel- 
ing quite  at  home  on  the  colt's  back,  and  wanted  to 
go  faster,  and  once,  when  the  horse  was  walking,  he 
said  : 

"  Now,  Joe,  I'm  going  to  try  to  start  him  into  a 
lope,  so  when  I  stick  my  heels  into  his  side,  you  hit 
him  with  the  rope." 

Joe  did  so,  and  the  colt  started  off  at  a  clumsy 
gallop,  but  as  he  was  not  in  the  least  bridle  wise, 
Jack  could  not  guide  him,  and  in  a  moment  he 
stepped  with  his  right  forefoot  into  a  little  washout 
and  awkwardly  enough  fell  over  onto  his  right  side, 
and  lay  there.  His  fall  was  so  slow  that  if  Jack  had 
been  a  practiced  horseman  he  could  readily  have 


270    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

sprung  off,  alighting  on  his  feet,  but  he  was  not 
quick  enough,  and  the  horse  fell  upon  the  boy's 
right  leg.  Happily  the  ground  was  soft,  and  the 
large  wooden  stirrup  kept  the  horse's  body  from 
pressing  heavily  on  the  confined  leg.  Joe  was  be- 
side Jack  in  a  moment,  asking  him  if  he  were  hurt, 
to  which  Jack  replied  : 

"Not  a  bit." 

"  Can  you  get  your  leg  out  ?  Is  the  horse  lying 
on  it  ?  "  said  Joe. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  he's  lying  on  it  a  little,  but  I 
think  maybe  I  can  work  it  out." 

"  Don't  try  for  a  minute,"  said  Joe,  "  wait  till  I 
lift  on  the  horn  of  the  saddle."  He  took  the  horn  in 
both  hands,  and  lifting  on  it,  raised  the  horse's 
body  slowly,  and  Jack  drew  out  his  leg  and  stood 
up.  Joe  kicked  the  horse  angrily,  saying :  "  Get 
up,  you  fool  brute,"  and  the  orphan  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  I'm  mighty  sorry  he  fell  with  you,"  said  Joe, 
"  but  I'm  mighty  glad  he  didn't  hurt  you.  Now, 
you  wait  here  a  moment  until  I  go  and  get  a  quirt, 
and  I'll  get  on  that  horse  and  teach  him  how  to 
move." 

"  You  go  and  get  the  quirt,"  said  Jack,  "  and  I'll 
get  on  the  horse,  and  I  think  I  can  make  him  move. 
All  he  needs,  I  guess,  is  to  be  made  to  understand 
what  is  wanted  of  him." 

With  the  quirt  in  his  right  hand,  Jack  mounted 
again,  and  again  put  the  horse  into  a  gallop,  watch- 
ing the  ground  ahead  of  him,  and  doing  his  best  to 
guide  him  where  it  was  smooth.  In  a  half  or  three 


JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE       271 

quarters  of  an  hour  the  orphan  had  greatly  im- 
proved in  his  method  of  travelling,  and  really  seemed 
to  understand  what  it  was  to  carry  a  rider.  A  little 
later  Mr.  Sturgis  and  Hugh  came  riding  over  the 
hills,  and  when  they  reached  the  flat,  Jack  rode  up 
to  them  on  the  orphan,  and  said  to  his  uncle : 

"  You  don't  want  to  hire  anybody  to  bust  broncos 
for  you,  do  you,  Mr.  Sturgis  ?  " 

"  Why,  Jack,  what  are  you  doing  on  the  orphan  ? 
I  didn't  know  that  he'd  ever  had  a  saddle  on  him." 

"  He  never  did  until  this  afternoon,"  said  Joe, 
"but  this  new  cowboy  of  ours  thought  he'd  make 
a  good  saddle  horse,  and  he's  been  riding  him. 
He  stayed  with  him  good,  you  bet.  The  horse 
throwed  himself  once,  but  that  didn't  make  a  mite 
of  difference  to  Jack,  he  just  made  the  horse  get  up, 
and  got  on  him,  and  put  the  quirt  on  to  him,  and 
rode  him  all  over  the  flat." 

"  Well,  my  boy,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  I'm  glad  you 
had  the  pluck  to  try  this  fellow,  and  if  he  makes  a 
good  horse,  I  think  we'll  have  to  give  him  to  you." 

"  Thank  you,  Uncle  Will,"  said  Jack,  "  that  will 
be  pretty  fine  to  have  a  horse  that's  really  my  own." 

They  were  still  talking,  when  suddenly  Hugh 
said,  "  By  George !  there's  old  John  coming  back," 
and  looking  toward  the  hill,  they  saw  a  rider,  fol- 
lowed by  two  pack  horses,  coming  down  toward  the 
ranch.  It  was  John  Monroe.  He  had  left  his 
daughter's  home  more  than  a  week  before,  and  was 
now  on  his  way  back  to  the  north. 

All  at  the  ranch  were  glad  to  see  him,  and  he,  on 


272    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

his  part,  seemed  delighted  to  meet  them  all  again. 
He  unpacked  his  horses  at  the  bunk  house,  and 
turned  them  all  loose,  as  if  he  expected  to  stay  here 
for  some  time. 

That  evening  Jack  questioned  him  about  the  dis- 
tance that  he  would  have  to  travel  before  he  reached 
his  home.  John  said  he  didn't  know  how  many  miles 
it  was,  but  he  thought  it  would  take  him  about  twenty- 
five  days'  travel  to  reach  the  Piegan  camp.  Just 
where  this  camp  would  be  he  could  not  tell,  but  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  find,  after  he  had  come  to 
the  country  in  which  the  tribe  ranged.  He  said 
that  perhaps  it  might  take  longer  if  the  weather 
should  be  bad,  or  if  enemies  should  be  met  with  who 
might  try  to  take  his  horses,  or  even  to  kill  him, 
but  neither  of  these  things  was  likely  to  happen. 
The  season  of  the  year  promised  good  weather,  and 
enemies  could  surely  be  avoided  by  watchfulness 
and  care. 

Hugh  and  John  had  much  to  say  to  each  other 
about  the  doings  of  the  old  days,  and  the  more  Jack 
heard  of  their  talk,  the  more  eager  he  became  to 
see  something  of  this  strange  life,  which  seemed  to 
him  so  much  more  wild,  and  so  much  more  natural 
than  even  the  life  on  the  ranch. 

John  Monroe  stayed  at  the  ranch  for  ten  days, 
before  continuing  his  journey  toward  his  northern 
home.  Before  he  left  he  invited  Hugh  and  Jack  to 
come  north  the  next  summer  and  visit  the  Piegan 
tribe.  He  told  Jack  much  about  the  summer  life  of 
these  Indians,  and  assured  him  that  if  he  would  visit 


JACK  RIDES  A  WILD  HORSE        273 

them  he  would  be  made  welcome,  not  only  by  him, 
but  by  the  whole  tribe,  and  that,  if  he  travelled 
about  with  them  in  their  journeys  after  the  buffalo, 
on  which  they  subsisted,  he  would  see  a  great  deal 
that  would  be  new  and  strange  to  him  that  he  would 
enjoy.  Jack  was,  of  course,  crazy  to  go.  He  even 
wanted  to  start  now  and  spend  the  winter  with  the 
tribe,  but  Mr.  Sturgis  very  positively  vetoed  any  such 
proposition,  although  he  said  he  thought  it  would 
be  very  good  for  Jack  to  make  the  trip  next  sum- 
mer, if  he  could  get  away  from  the  east  for  the 
length  of  time  required  for  the  trip.  So  when  the 
time  came  for  John's  departure,  they  shook  hands 
in  the  hope  of  meeting  again  another  season. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

A    MYSTERIOUS    CAVE 

"  SON,  these  blue  grouse  are  getting  to  be  a  pretty 
good  size  now ;  why  don't  you  take  your  rifle,  or 
maybe  your  uncle's  shot  gun,  and  go  out  and  try  and 
get  a  mess  this  morning  ? "  said  Hugh  to  Jack. 
They  were  down  at  the  barn  saddling  up.  Hugh 
was  going  into  town  to  get  the  mail,  and  Jack  was 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  with  himself  during  the  two 
days  of  Hugh's  absence. 

"  Where  had  I  better  go,  Hugh  ?  Up  on  the 
mountain  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  you'll  find  the  old  hens  and 
their  broods  along  the  little  creeks,  right  close  up 
to  the  mountain,  but  not  high  up  on  it.  I  wouldn't 
be  a  mite  surprised  if  you  could  get  quite  a  few 
birds  right  up  on  the  heads  of  the  creeks  that  run 
down  through  the  pasture.  But  say ;  there's  one 
thing  you  want  to  remember  ;  if  you  take  your  rifle 
with  you,  only  heads  counts." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Hugh?  "  said  Jack. 

"Why,"  said  Hugh,  "if  you  shoot  with  your  rifle 
at  one  of  them  little  birds,  and  hit  it  in  the  body, 
there  ain't  nothing  left  except  a  few  feathers.  You'll 

274 


A  MYSTERIOUS  CAVE  275 

spoil  all  the  meat.  So  I  want  you  to  shoot  the 
heads  off  all  the  birds  you  see  ;  don't  aim  at  the 
bodies  at  all.  Fire  at  the  heads,  or,  if  they  have 
got  their  necks  stretched  up,  aim  at  the  neck,  just 
below  the  head.  You  needn't  be  afraid  that  you'll 
lose  many  shots  that  way.  Young  birds  are  right 
gentle,  and  they'll  let  you  fire  half  a  dozen  shots  at 
'em,  and  won't  move  without  they're  hit.  Of  course 
it  would  be  better  if  you  had  one  of  them  little  pea 
rifles,  that  don't  make  no  noise  and  shoot  a  mighty 
small  ball,  but  your  gun  will  do,  and  it's  pretty  good 
practice  shooting  the  heads  off  grouse  ;  you  get  to 
learn  just  when  to  pull  your  gun  off.  You  have  to 
get  up  pretty  close  to  the  birds,  but  they'll  let  you 
do  that.  Draw  your  sight  down  right  fine,  and  aim 
at  the  neck,  just  under  the  head.  You'll  get  so  after 
a  little  that  you  can  knock  'em  every  time." 

Hugh  finished  saddling,  rode  up  to  the  house, 
tied  his  bundle  of  mail  behind  his  saddle  and  trotted 
off  over  the  hills ;  while  Jack  filled  his  belt  with 
cartridges,  and  then,  mounting  Pawnee,  rode  off 
toward  the  mountain. 

Before  long  he  passed  down  into  the  valley  of  a 
little  brook,  and  followed  it  up,  looking  among  the 
willows  and  along  the  hillside,  to  see  if  he  could  dis- 
cover any  birds.  He  had  not  gone  far  before  he 
noticed  above  him,  on  the  hillside,  some  small  mov- 
ing objects,  which  he  soon  made  out  to  be  young 
sage  grouse.  These  were  not  just  what  he  was 
after,  but  he  thought  they  would  do  to  practice  on, 
and  dismounting  and  throwing  down  his  horse's 


276    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

rein,  he  walked  toward  them.  In  the  brood  there 
were  eight  or  ten  birds,  about  as  large  as  hens,  all 
keeping  quite  close  together,  and  following  their 
much  larger  mother.  They  paid  no  attention  to 
him,  and  he  walked  up  to  within  fifteen  or  twenty 
yards,  and  stood  watching  them,  before  beginning 
to  shoot.  They  made  their  way  slowly  along  the 
hillside,  feeding  as  they  went.  Now  and  then  one 
of  them  would  run  wildly  about,  chasing  a  grass- 
hopper here  and  there,  and  at  length  capturing  it, 
and  sometimes  two  or  three  followed  the  same 
insect.  As  they  walked  along,  they  kept  calling  to 
each  other  with  faint  peeping  cries,  and  if  one  got 
off  a  little  to  one  side  of  the  group,  he  soon  turned 
and  ran  back  to  it. 

It  was  rather  pleasant  to  watch  them,  but  Jack 
had  come  out  to  kill  some  birds,  and,  putting  a 
cartridge  into  his  gun,  he  made  ready  to  shoot.  At 
first  they  did  not  stand  still  long  enough  for  him  to 
catch  sight  on  one,  but  he  walked  along  slowly  after 
them,  and  presently  one  of  the  grouse  stretched  up 
his  neck  and  stood  looking.  Jack  fired  at  it,  and 
the  bird  fell  to  the  ground,  while  all  the  others 
stretched  their  necks  to  their  fullest  lengths,  and 
looked  about  to  see  what  had  made  the  noise.  Be- 
fore he  could  reload  and  fire  again,  they  had  resumed 
their  feeding  and  moved  on.  Before  long,  however, 
he  had  another  shot,  but  this  time  he  missed. 
Again  the  birds  looked  about,  and  again  started  on. 
At  his  third  shot  the  bird  fired  at,  instead  of  drop- 
ping at  once,  made  a  great  fluttering,  and  imme- 


A  MYSTERIOUS  CAVE  277 

diately  the  whole  brood  took  wing  and  flew  off  over 
the  ridge  and  were  not  seen  again.  Jack's  first  shot 
had  been  a  capital  one,  cutting  the  bird's  neck  just 
below  the  head.  His  third  shot  had  been  too  low, 
and  had  not  killed  the  bird  at  once,  and  its  flutter- 
ing and  flouncing  over  the  ground  had  frightened 
the  others. 

He  tied  the  two  grouse  to  his  saddle  and  went 
on  along  the  mountain  side.  Nothing  was  seen  on 
the  next  two  streams  that  he  crossed,  but  as  he 
looked  down  into  the  valley  of  the  third,  he  saw, 
quite  a  long  way  off,  something  that  at  once  arrested 
his  attention.  Down  in  the  flat  was  a  coyote, 
jumping  and  prancing  about,  as  if  in  great  excite- 
ment, and  quite  close  to  it,  sometimes  standing 
still,  and  again  running  toward  the  coyote,  which 
retreated,  was  a  badger.  For  two  or  three  minutes 
Jack  sat  there  watching  them,  wondering  what  they 
could  be  doing,  but  the  strange  game — if  it  was  a 
game — was  kept  up.  He  determined  that  he  would 
get  off  and  watch  ;  so  leaving  his  horse  behind  the 
hill,  he  crept  up  to  its  crest  and  lay  there,  to  try  to 
discover  what  the  animals  were  doing. 

Sometimes  the  coyote  ran  very  fast,  almost  up  to 
the  badger,  which,  in  turn,  ran  toward  the  coyote, 
which  then  retreated,  and  when  the  badger  had 
stopped  his  advance,  the  coyote  lay  down,  rested  his 
head  on  his  paws,  waved  his  tail  from  side  to  side, 
and  sometimes  rolled  over.  The  badger  then 
started  to  walk  off,  but  before  he  had  gone  far  the 
coyote  got  on  his  legs  again  and  recommenced  his 


278    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

play.  This  continued  for  quite  a  long  time,  during 
which  the  animals  worked  further  and  further  away 
from  Jack.  The  badger  seemed  to  be  trying  to 
cross  the  valley  and  go  up  onto  the  next  hillside, 
and  the  coyote  seemed  to  be  teasing  him.  It  was 
rather  a  mysterious  performance  to  Jack,  and  he 
determined  that  he  would  ask  Hugh  whether  he  had 
ever  seen  anything  like  it,  and  what  it  meant. 
When  the  two  animals  had  got  so  far  from  him  that 
he  could  no  longer  see  them  distinctly,  he  went 
back  to  his  horse,  mounted  and  rode  on.  As  soon 
as  the  coyote  saw  him,  he  left  the  badger  and  ran 
up  on  the  hill,  where  he  watched  Jack  for  a  few 
moments,  and  then  went  off,  while  the  badger 
trotted  briskly  along  up  on  the  hillside,  and  pres- 
ently disappeared  in  a  hole. 

In  a  ravine  not  far  beyond  this  Jack  found  his  first 
brood  of  blue  grouse.  The  birds  were  half  grown, 
and  he  rode  in  among  them  before  seeing  them. 
They  flew  up  the  ravine,  but  he  saw  where  some  of 
them  alighted,  and,  riding  on  until  he  was  near  the 
spot,  he  dismounted  again.  He  walked  along  very 
cautiously,  looking  everywhere  on  the  ground  for  the 
birds,  but  before  he  saw  them,  two  rose,  with  a  great 
fluttering  of  wings,  almost  beneath  his  feet,  and 
flew  on  further  up  the  ravine.  He  had  been  looking 
so  carefully  for  these  birds  that  he  felt  sure  that  they 
must  be  hiding,  and  not  walking  along,  for  if  they 
had  been  moving  he  would  certainly  have  seen  them. 
A  few  steps  further  on,  his  eye  suddenly  caught  a 
brown  shape  on  the  grey  ground,  which  in  an  instant 


A  MYSTERIOUS  CAVE  279 

he  saw  was  a  grouse,  crouching  flat  on  the  soil,  its 
head  and  tail  pressed  against  it,  and  its  bright  brown 
eye  closely  watching  him.  He  slowly  raised  his 
rifle  to  his  shoulder,  and  firing  very  carefully,  cut  off 
its  head.  A  little  further  on,  two  that  he  had  not 
seen  flew,  and  then  he  saw  another  in  the  ground, 
but  it  flew  before  he  had  time  to  shoot.  Then  he 
saw  another  and  raising  his  rifle  just  as  he  saw  its 
shape,  he  pulled  the  trigger  the  instant  his  eye  fell  full 
upon  it.  It  occurred  to  him  now  that  the  birds 
were  watching  him  all  the  time,  and  that  as  soon  as 
they  caught  his  eye  they  realised  that  they  were  seen, 
and  flew  away.  In  this,  Jack  was  quite  right,  for 
often  one's  face  may  be  turned  full  toward  a  hiding 
bird,  and  one  may  all  look  around  it  without  its 
moving,  but  if  he  looks  fairly  at  its  eye,  the  bird  is 
almost  sure  to  flush.  Before  long  he  had  four  of  the 
young  blue  grouse,  and  going  back  to  his  horse,  he 
mounted  again. 

By  this  time  the  morning  was  pretty  well  gone, 
and  he  hesitated  whether  to  go  home  for  dinner,  or 
to  spend  the  afternoon  here  beneath  the  cliffs. 
Finally  he  determined  to  ride  up  the  ravine  a  little 
further,  on  the  chance  of  seeing  more  of  this  scat- 
tered brood,  and  then,  if  he  did  not  find  any,  to  go 
home. 

Following  up  the  valley  a  short  distance,  a  grouse 
rose  under  Pawnee's  feet,  and  flew  up  the  hillside, 
alighting  among  some  low  pines  that  grew  at  the 
very  base  of  the  cliff.  Jack  thought  the  bird 
might  have  gone  into  a  tree,  and  clambered  up  on 


280    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

the  chance  of  getting  a  shot.  When  he  reached  the 
pines  he  could  not  find  the  bird,  and  after  looking 
for  it  a  little  while,  he  sat  down  to  rest,  and  to 
watch  some  little  striped  squirrels  that  were  playing 
among  the  rocks  just  above  him.  While  he  sat 
watching  the  squirrels,  he  suddenly  heard  a  rushing 
sound,  so  close  to  his  ear  that  he  dodged,  and  a 
great  hawk,  with  long  tail  and  sharp  pointed  wings, 
darted  over  one  of  the  squirrels,  and  in  an  instant 
rose  in  the  air  with  the  tiny  creature  in  its  talons.  It 
had  happened  so  quickly  that  Jack  hardly  realised 
the  squirrel's  capture  until  he  saw  the  hawk  rise,  and 
with  a  few  strong  strokes  of  its  wings,  swing  up  and 
alight  on  a  shelf  of  the  cliff,  above  the  tops  of  the 
tall  pines  that  grew  on  the  hillside.  Here  the  blue 
rock  was  stained  white,  and  Jack  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  hawk  had  a  nest  there.  He  determined  to 
climb  up  and  see  if  he  could  not  get  to  it,  and  learn 
what  was  in  it.  There  might  be  young  birds,  and 
these  would  make  capital  pets  if  they  could  be  tamed. 
It  seemed  a  long  way  up  to  where  the  hawk  sat,  and 
the  cliff  looked  sheer  as  a  wall,  but  here  and  there 
were  crevices  and  places  where  the  water  had  worn 
away  the  rock,  and  he  thought  that  perhaps  he  could 
get  up  to  the  nest. 

The  climb  to  the  base  of  the  cliff  was  long  and 
slow.  When  he  reached  it  he  saw  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  far  up  if  he  carried  his  gun  with 
him,  so  he  left  it  here,  resting  against  a  rock,  and 
clambered  up  toward  the  nest  for  thirty  or  forty 
feet,  and  then  he  reached  a  place  where  he  could 


A  MYSTERIOUS  CAVE  281 

get  no  further.  But  a  little  below,  he  had  passed  a 
narrow  shelf,  running  out  to  one  side,  and  going 
down  to  this,  he  made  his  way  very  carefully  under 
the  cliff  to  a  crevice,  up  which  he  worked  a  short 
distance,  and  then  this  ran  out  and  ended  in  a  bare, 
smooth  wall.  He  would  have  to  give  it  up :  the 
nest  could  not  be  reached.  He  thought  it  would  be 
shorter  and  easier  to  follow  the  crevice  down  to  the 
steep  hillside  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  instead  of  go- 
ing back  along  the  shelf,  as  he  had  come.  Going 
down  was  easy,  until  he  had  almost  reached  the  foot 
of  the  wall,  and  could  see,  five  or  six  feet  below  him, 
ground  on  which  he  could  walk.  Here  the  crevice 
ended.  It  was  rather  a  long  jump  down  to  the 
ground,  and  that  sloped  off  so  sharply  that  he  did 
not  feel  sure  that  if  he  jumped  he  could  stop  him- 
self. He  turned  around,  therefore,  and  let  himself 
down  backward,  feeling  with  his  toes  for  some  little 
knob  of  rock  on  which  to  rest  his  feet,  but,  as  he  let 
himself  down  the  rock  all  seemed  smooth,  and  he 
could  find  no  foothold.  He  was  now  clinging  by 
the  ends  of  his  fingers  to  the  rock  above,  too  far 
down  to  draw  himself  up  again,  and  yet  with  his 
feet  a  foot  or  more  above  the  ground.  There  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  let  himself  go,  and  he  dropped. 
The  slope  which  his  feet  struck  was  too  steep  for  a 
foothold.  He  fell  over  backward,  and  rolled  thirty 
or  forty  feet  down  the  slope,  bringing  up  in  a  clump 
of  bushes. 

Jack  was  a  little  shaken  and  bruised  by  his  roll, 
but  not  hurt.     He  picked  himself  up  and  looked 


282    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

back  at  the  way  he  had  come,  and  congratulated 
himself  that  it  had  been  no  worse.  He  started  to 
climb  up  the  slope  again  to  get  his  gun,  but  first  it 
was  necessary  that  he  should  get  out  of  the  brush 
into  which  he  had  rolled.  To  his  right  there  seemed 
a  place  where  the  bushes  were  thinner  than  those 
over  which  he  had  passed  on  his  way  down,  and  he 
turned  in  this  direction  to  make  the  ascent.  He 
had  gone  only  a  few  steps  when  he  stopped,  for 
there  before  him  was  a  great  dark  hole  in  the  side 
of  the  hill.  It  was  shaped  almost  like  a  door,  high, 
and  not  very  wide,  and  within  all  seemed  black, 
Grass  and  bushes  grew  up  in  the  entrance,  and 
there  was  no  sign  that  anything  ever  passed  in 
or  out. 

This  hole  looked  rather  mysterious  to  Jack,  and 
he  wondered  what  there  could  be  in  it.  He  walked 
up  to  it  and  looked  as  hard  as  he  could  into  the 
blackness,  but  he  could  see  nothing.  He  wanted 
very  much  to  go  in,  yet  it  was  useless  to  do  so  un- 
less he  could  see  something  when  he  got  there.  "If 
I  only  had  a  lantern  now,"  thought  Jack,  "  or  even 
a  candle,  I  could  go  in  and  see  what  is  there.  I'll 
bet  no  one  at  the  ranch  knows  of  this  cave,  and  I'd 
like  to  find  out  all  about  it  and  tell  them.  That 
would  be  a  good  story  to  take  back."  He  thought 
for  awhile,  and  decided  that  he  must  make  a  torch  ; 
but  what  could  he  make  it  of  ?  For  a  little  while 
he  could  think  of  nothing  to  use.  He  remembered 
that  in  the  books  that  he  had  read,  people  had  al- 
ways had  birch  bark  for  torches,  or  fat  with  which 


A  MYSTERIOUS  CAVE  283 

to  make  candles,  but  he  had  neither.  Then  he 
thought  of  pine  torches  of  which  he  had  read.  There 
were  plenty  of  pines  growing  here  on  the  mountain, 
but  nothing  that  he  could  make  a  torch  of.  Sud- 
denly he  remembered  that  dried  pine  needles  burn 
brightly,  though  only  for  a  little  while,  and  that  on 
the  ground  not  far  from  here  he  had  seen  a  half 
dozen  pine  limbs,  twisted  off  from  one  of  the  trees 
in  some  heavy  wind  storm.  He  thought  if  he  could 
tie  a  good  many  bunches  of  these  needles  together, 
they  would  make  a  torch  for  him.  He  crept  out  of 
the  underbrush  and  saw  near  by  several  of  these 
pine  limbs,  with  the  dried  red  needles  on  them, 
and  he  picked  a  number  of  the  bunches.  Now  he 
needed  some  string.  "  If  I  only  had  Pawnee  here," 
he  thought,  "  I  could  take  the  strings  from  my 
saddle ; "  but  Pawnee  was  feeding  far  below  him  in 
the  valley.  As  he  cast  his  eye  about  him,  in  per- 
plexity, he  saw  a  yucca  plant  growing  on  the  slope, 
and  he  remembered  what  Hugh  had  told  him  about 
using  the  fibre  of  this  plant  for  thread.  He  climbed 
up  to  it,  cut  off  a  number  of  the  long  bayonet- 
shaped  leaves,  selected  a  straight  dead  stick,  and 
went  back  to  his  pile  of  pine  needles.  Splitting  the 
tough  leaves  of  the  yucca,  he  found  that  they  could 
be  used  as  strings,  and  with  these  strings  he  bound  his 
bunches  of  pine  needles,  one  beneath  the  other,  to 
the  stick,  and  soon  had  what  he  thought  might  per- 
haps serve  him  as  a  torch.  Going  back  to  the  mouth 
of  the  cave,  he  again  looked  into  it,  and  listened,  but 
all  was  darkness  and  silence.  He  parted  the  low 


284    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

growing  bushes  at  the  entrance,  and  stepped  in,  and 
then,  lighting  a  match,  touched  it  to  the  top  of  his 
torch.  The  bunch  of  pine  needles  flared  up  for  two 
or  three  seconds,  and  then  went  out,  but  the  light  was 
enough  to  show  that  for  six  or  eight  feet  further  in 
there  was  a  smooth  floor  to  the  cave,  paved  with  small 
stones.  The  walls  above  and  on  either  side  seemed 
high.  A  second  match,  touched  to  another  bunch 
of  pine  needles,  gave  another  flame,  lasting  only  an 
instant.  Plainly,  the  torch  would  not  burn  from 
the  top  downward.  The  only  thing  to  do  was  to 
light  it  below,  and  let  the  flames  run  up  the  stick. 
Jack  lighted  another  match,  took  two  or  three  steps 
forward,  and  then  touched  the  torch  at  its  lower 
part.  The  pine  needles  flared  up,  the  flame  caught 
the  next  bunch  above,  and  then  the  next.  Jack 
could  see  on  the  ground  before  him  some  feathers, 
a  half  dozen  slender  sticks,  and,  far  back,  raised 
above  the  floor  of  the  cave,  was  a  pale,  dim  thing. 
There  was  a  whirring  sound,  something  struck  his 
hat,  something  else  struck  the  torch,  he  dropped  itf 
and  it  went  out. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

WHAT    THE  CAVE    HELD 

THERE  was  something  alive  in  the  cave,  and  Jack 
did  not  wait  to  see  what  it  was.  With  two  or  three 
long  jumps  he  passed  out  of  the  entrance  and  stood 
again  among  the  underbrush,  through  which  the 
bright  sun  was  sending  down  its  long  sheaves  of 
light.  Nothing  more  happened,  and  as  he  looked 
back  into  the  cave  it  was  all  quiet  there.  He  was 
breathing  fast,  startled  and  excited,  yet  not  exactly 
frightened,  and  when  he  reached  the  open  air  and 
had  recovered  from  his  start,  he  felt  curious  to  know 
what  had  made  the  strange  noise  and  what  had  hit 
him.  It  did  not  seem  that  it  could  be  anything 
very  terrible,  for  if  it  had  been,  it  would  have  struck 
him  harder  and  made  more  noise.  He  looked  back 
into  the  cave,  but  the  darkness  gave  no  answer  to 
the  question  in  his  mind.  He  could  see  two  or 
three  tiny  sparks  faintly  glowing,  which  went  out 
one  by  one  as  he  watched  them.  This  was  the  re- 
mains of  his  torch.  He  wondered  what  that  dim 
pale  shape  could  be,  that  he  had  seen  for  an  instant, 
but  too  indistinctly  to  tell  what  it  was.  Though 

he  was  anxious  to  know  more  about  the  cave,  he 

285 


286    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

did  not  feel  like  venturing  into  it  again  without  a 
light,  and  he  determined  to  go  home  and  tell  his 
uncle,  and,  in  a  day  or  two  to  return,  better  pre- 
pared for  the  investigation. 

His  mind  was  so  full  of  what  he  had  seen  that  he 
started  down  the  hill  toward  his  horse,  altogether 
forgetting  his  gun,  and  when  he  remembered  it,  he 
had  a  long  climb  back  to  recover  it. 

It  was  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  before  he 
reached  the  house,  and  there  was  no  one  about 
to  whom  he  could  talk  of  his  adventure  except  Mrs. 
Carter.  To  her  he  told  his  story,  but  she  could 
throw  no  light  on  the  matter,  nor,  indeed,  could  his 
uncle  when  he  consulted  him  at  supper. 

"  Why,  Jack,"  said  he  ;  "  that  is  very  interesting, 
and  you  were  lucky  to  find  such  a  place.  It  was 
pretty  keen  of  you  too,  to  think  of  making  the  torch 
as  you  did.  I  fancy  it  would  have  served  you  better 
though,  if  you  had  put  some  wads  of  grass  with 
your  pine  needles.  It  would  have  burned  more 
slowly  and  steadily,  and  would  have  given  you  a 
pretty  fair  light.  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  wanted 
to  get  out  of  the  cave  when  you  heard  that  noise 
and  were  hit.  Were  you  much  scared  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  guess  I  was,  Uncle  Will.  My  heart  was 
beating  hard  when  I  got  out,  but  the  light  seemed 
to  cool  me  down  right  off.  That's  queer,  isn't 
it?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  his  uncle  ;  "  it  seems  to 
me  very  natural.  Wait  till  Hugh  gets  back,  Jack, 
and  then  we  three  will  go  up  on  the  hill,  with  plenty 


WHAT  THE  CAVE  HELD  28  jr 

of  lights,  and  will  see  what  there  is  in  the  cave,  and 
where  it  goes  to."  With  this,  Jack  was  forced  to  be 
content. 

During  the  rext  two  days  Jack  thought  a  great 
deal  about  the  cave,  and  on  the  evening  of  the 
second  day,  when  Hugh  returned  from  town,  Jack 
met  him  at  the  barn,  and  while  he  was  unsaddling, 
poured  into  his  ear  the  tale  of  his  discovery. 

Hugh  seemed  much  impressed,  but  ventured  no 
opinion,  though  he  asked  a  number  of  questions. 
"  What  did  the  thing  feel  like  that  hit  you  on  the 
head,  son  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Why,  it  was  something  soft,  and  not  very  big. 
It  just  hit  my  hat  a  light  blow,  not  much  more  than 
enough  to  dent  it  in,  I  should  think,  but  there  was 
the  queerest  noise  at  the  same  time  that  I  ever 
heard.  I  don't  know  how  to  describe  it.  It  was 
like  something  moving  quickly  through  the  air. 
Just  the  faintest  sound  you  can  think  of,  but  it 
seemed  close  to  my  ear." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  reckon  you're  a  great 
hand  to  have  things  happen  to  you.  Now  ain't  it  a 
queer  thing  that  you  should  just  about  roll  into  this 
place,  and  me  live  about  here  all  these  years  and 
never  know  that  it  was  there.  You  done  well  to 
make  the  light  you  did,  and  to  go  in  like  you  did. 
It  kind  o'  makes  a  man  go  slow  to  see  everything 
black  ahead  of  him.  We'll  know  to-morrow  what 
there  is  there,  unless  your  uncle  wants  me  to  do 
something  else." 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I'm  sure  he  don't,  for  he  said 


288    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

that  we'd  all  three  go  up  there  together  and  find  out 
what  there  is  in  the  cave." 

"All  right,"  said  Hugh,  "that  will  suit  me  first 
class.  I  expect  when  we  get  there  maybe  we  won't 
find  anything  very  strange,  and  then  again,  maybe 
we  will.  Caves  ain't  very  common  in  this  country, 
but  I've  seen  a  good  many  of  'em  ;  some  of  'em  where 
the  Indians  have  been  in,  and  drawed  all  kinds  of 
pictures  on  the  walls.  And  then  away  southwest 
of  here,  up  in  the  mountains,  there's  lots  of  caves 
that  the  Indians  used  to  live  in.  Some  of  'em  are 
away  high  up  on  the  cliffs,  right  hard  places  to  get 
to,  but  those  Indians  lived  there,  and  you  can  see 
their  bed  places,  and  where  they  have  had  their 
fires,  and  sometimes  you'll  find  the  pots  that  they 
used  to  cook  in,  and  everywhere,  all  about,  there's 
lots  of  pieces  of  broken  pots.  But  all  that  was  a 
long  time  ago.  I  expect  the  Indians  that  lived 
down  on  the  prairie,  at  the  foot  of  these  cliffs,  were 
likely  hostile,  and  the  fellows  that  had  their  houses 
up  in  the  caves  lived  there  so's  to  get  away  from 
them  that  was  down  on  the  plains.  I  reckon  you've 
heard  tell  of  the  Pueblo  people  that  live  down  there 
yet.  They  live  in  regular  houses,  built  of  'dobes. 
Some  of  them  houses  are  like  three  or  four  built  on 
top  of  each  other,  and  they  haven't  got  a  door  nor  a 
window  on  the  outside.  They  climb  up  into  'em  by 
ladders,  that  they  haul  up  after  'em,  and  then  they're 
just  like  they  was  in  a  fort.  I  expect  they  got  to 
building  them  houses  because  people  were  hazing 
them,  and  they  had  to  have  protection,  nights." 


WHAT  THE  CAVE  HELD  289 

After  breakfast  next  morning  the  three  started 
for  the  cave,  carrying  two  lanterns  and  some  candles. 
When  they  came  to  the  place  where  Jack  had  seen 
the  badger  and  the  coyote,  he  told  Hugh  about  it, 
and  asked  him  what  sort  of  a  game  these  two 
animals  were  playing.  Mr.  Sturgis  laughed  when 
the  question  was  asked,  and  Hugh  smiled,  too. 
"  Son,"  he  said,  "  your  uncle,  here,  asked  me  that 
same  question  about  six  years  ago,  when  he  first 
saw  a  badger  and  a  coyote  acting  that  way.  I  have 
seen  it  a  heap  of  times,  and  I'll  tell  you  what  I 
believe  it  means.  You  know,  in  these  days,  since 
there  ain't  no  buffalo,  any  more,  the  coyotes  are 
pretty  nearly  always  hungry.  I  believe  that  a 
coyote  sometimes,  when  he  finds  a  badger  out  on  the 
prairie,  just  keeps  a-bothering  him  and  a-bothering 
him  until  he  gets  the  badger  right  mad,  and  gets 
him  so  he  wants  to  fight.  You  know,  a  badger  ain't 
a  very  good-tempered  animal,  nohow.  Well,  after 
the  coyote  has  pestered  him  a  while,  the  badger 
gets  so  cross  that  he  just  wants  to  get  hold  of  that 
coyote,  and  the  coyote  keeps  pretty  close  to  him, 
and  the  badger  keeps  following  him,  and  so  the 
coyote  leads  him  along,  until  presently  maybe  he 
runs  across  two  or  three  other  coyotes,  and  then 
they  all  pitch  into  the  badger  and  kill  him,  and  eat 
him." 

"  That  seems  mighty  queer,  Hugh,"  said  Jack. 
"  I  didn't  suppose  a  coyote  knew  enough  to  make 
a  plan  like  that." 

"  Well,  of  course,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  tJntf 
19 


290    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

it  is  so ;  no  coyote  ever  told  me  that  it  was,  but  I've 
seen  them  acting  that  way  often,  and  I  can't  think  of 
no  other  meaning  to  it  except  that.  But  a  coyote 
is  smart  enough  to  do  that,  or  most  anything  else. 
It  may  be  that  the  coyote  just  enjoys  teasing  the 
badger,  and  making  him  fighting  mad,  but  if  that 
was  so,  I  wouldn't  look  to  see  the  thing  happen  as 
often  as  it  does.  A  coyote's  got  a  heap  of  meanness 
in  him,  though;  I've  seen  a  couple  of  'em  spend  an 
hour  or  two  just  bothering  a  big  wolf,  and  I'm  cer- 
tain they  did  that  just  for  the  fun  of  it.  The  wolf 
was  crossing  a  big  sheet  of  ice,  where  a  creek  had 
overflowed,  and  it  was  pretty  slippery,  and  he  could 
not  handle  himself  very  well,  nor  turn  quick.  One 
of  the  coyotes  would  run  pretty  close  in  front  of 
him,  and  the  wolf  would  make  a  grab  at  him,  and 
while  he  was  doing  that,  the  other  coyote  would  run 
up  behind  him  and  nip  him.  Why,  them  two  little 
rascals  had  a  heap  of  fun  with  that  big  wolf  before 
he  got  off  the  ice  and  on  to  the  bare  ground,  where 
he  had  a  good  footing." 

Before  long  they  reached  the  place  where  Jack 
told  them  they  must  leave  their  horses,  and  then 
they  started  up  the  hill.  Hugh  said,  "  We'd  better 
all  take  our  ropes  with  us  ;  we  don't  know  but  what 
we  might  need  'em  when  we  get  up  there."  They 
clambered  up  the  steep  ascent,  Jack  in  advance, 
and  feeling  quite  important  at  the  thought  that  he 
was  now  acting  as  guide  for  Hugh  and  his  uncle. 
Once,  when  they  stopped  to  rest,  he  pointed  out 
where  the  hawk's  nest  was,  and  showed  them 


WHAT  THE  CAVE  HELD  291 

where  he  had  rolled  down  the  hill  and  into  the 
bushes. 

"  It's  a  wonder  you  didn't  break  your  neck,"  said 
his  uncle. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  it  would  be  a  wonder  if  we 
didn't  know  that  boys  are  all  the  time  getting  into 
scrapes,  where  a  grown  man  would  be  killed,  and  the 
boys  come  out  of  it  without  even  getting  scratched 
up."  As  he  said  this  he  looked  hard  at  Jack,  who 
thought  he  must  be  referring  to  his  scrape  with  the 
mountain  lion. 

It  was  not  long  before  they  were  all  standing  in 
the  brush,  at  the  entrance  to  the  cave. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  as  he  peered  into  the 
opening,  "  it's  black  enough  in  there,  certainly." 

"  Dark  as  a  wolf's  mouth,"  said  Hugh. 

They  lighted  the  two  lanterns,  and  giving  Jack  a 
candle,  they  prepared  to  go  in. 

"  Do  you  want  to  lead  the  way,  Jack  ?  "  said  his 
uncle,  "  or  shall  one  of  us  go  first  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I'd  like  to  be  first  to  go  in. 
You  know,  I  feel  as  if  this  cave  belonged  to  me." 

"That's  right,  son,"  said  Hugh  ;  "you're  the 
leader  of  this  party.  Go  right  in,  and  we'll  follow 
you.  Only  I  don't  want  you  to  go  too  fast,  or  too 
far  ahead.  I've  seen  these  caves  sometimes  where 
there's  a  big  drop  off  in  the  bottom,  and  I'd  hate 
almightily  to  be  following  you  and  see  you  fall  off 
into  a  big  hole.  You  go  ahead,  but  go  mighty  slow, 
and  we'll  be  right  close  behind  you.  You  two 
might  leave  your  guns  out  here,  I  don't  reckon 


292    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

there's  nothing  to  hurt  anybody  inside.  I  don't 
see  no  signs  where  anybody  has  been  in  this  cave 
this  season,  except  where  son  walked  the  other 
day." 

Mr.  Sturgis  and  Jack  left  their  guns  here,  but 
Hugh  retained  his.  Then  the  three  went  into  the 
cave,  Jack  a  little  in  advance.  They  had  made  only 
two  or  three  steps  into  it  when  Jack  again  heard  the 
queer  whirring  noise,  and  saw  Hugh  suddenly  strike 
at  something  with  his  hand,  and  then  heard  a  faint, 
squeaking  cry,  and  a  sound  as  of  something  soft 
striking  the  ground. 

"  There's  what  hit  you,"  said  Hugh. 

"  Oh,  what  is  it  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Bats,"  said  Hugh.  "  I  suspicioned  it  was  them, 
from  what  you  said,  but  I  wan't  certain.  They 
can't  do  no  harm,  but  look  here  ! "  and  Hugh 
stooped  and  picked  up  two  or  three  feathers,  and 
one  of  the  slender  sticks  that  Jack  had  noticed  the 
day  before,  and  said  :  "  This  has  been  a  sacred  place 
for  the  Indians.  See  these  presents?  These  are 
eagle  feathers,  and  here  are  a  lot  of  arrows  that  have 
been  given,  maybe,  to  the  Sun." 

"But  those  look  pretty  old,  Hugh,"  said  Mr. 
Sturgis. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  these  were  left  here  a  long 
time  ago.  Don't  ye  see  they've  got  stone  points? 
This  here  arrow  looks  like  a  Cheyenne  arrow,  but 
it's  old." 

"There,  Uncle  Will!"  said  Jack,  interrupting, 
"  There's  that  white  thing.  Let's  see  what  that  is." 


WHAT  THE  CAVE  HELD  293 

They  moved  forward  a  little,  very  slowly,  and 
in  a  moment  saw  that  the  cave  was  a  small  one,  not 
more  than  forty  feet  long.  On  a  bed  of  stones, 
raised  above  the  floor  lay  a  whitish  bundle,  about 
three  feet  long  and  two  wide,  tied  up  with  leather 
thongs. 

"Ha! "said  Hugh. 

"What  is  it,  Hugh?"  said  Jack. 

"  Why  don't  you  see  ?  "  said  Hugh.  "  This  here 
cave  is  a  grave  and  that's  the  body  of  a  person  that 
was  buried  here." 

"  It  must  have  been  a  little  bit  of  a  child,  then," 
said  Jack. 

"  Not  so,"  Hugh  answered,  "  that's  a  grown  per- 
son, either  a  man  or  a  woman.  That's  the  way  they 
tie  'em  up  in  bundles  when  they  bury  'em.  I  expect 
that  Indian  was  put  here  a  long  time  ago."  Hugh 
put  down  his  lantern,  bent  forward  and  took  hold 
of  the  bundle  by  either  end,  and  lifted  it  from  the 
ground.  It  seemed  to  weigh  very  little,  and  as  he 
replaced  it  on  its  bed  of  stones,  he  repeated,  "  A 
long  time  ago.  Why,  that  bundle  don't  weigh 
nothing.  There  can't  be  nothing  in  it  except  just 
the  very  driest  kind  of  bones,  and  that  hide  that  it's 
wrapped  in  is  just  like  paper ;  when  I  lifted  it,  my 
fingers  went  right  through  it." 

Jack  stared  at  the  bundle,  wondering  how  long  it 
had  been  here,  who  it  had  been,  and  thinking  of  the 
life  that  it  had  led  so  long  ago.  Meantime,  the 
other  two  had  turned  aside  and  were  looking  about 
the  cave,  which  was  only  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide. 


294    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

Hugh  picked  up  an  earthenware  pot,  which  stood 
at  one  end  of  the  bed  of  stones,  and  calling  Jack, 
showed  it  to  him.  By  the  light  of  the  lantern  it 
seemed  to  be  dark  red  and  grey,  and  it  had  once  held 
something,  as  its  sides  and  bottom,  within,  were 
dark  with  crusted  dust.  "  I  expect  when  they 
buried  this  fellow,"  said  Hugh,  "  they  left  some 
grub  for  him  to  eat,  in  this  pot."  Near  the  pot, 
but  resting  on  the  floor  of  the  cave,  was  a  small  sack 
made  of  what  seemed  like  leather.  This,  when  Jack 
felt  of  it,  seemed  heavy.  The  covering  was  hard 
and  dry. 

On  the  walls  at  either  side  of  the  cave  were 
scratched  in  the  rock,  rude  figures  of  men,  a  great 
circle  with  lines  starting  out  from  it,  which  Hugh 
said  meant  the  Sun,  and  a  rude  figure  of  a  bird  with 
a  great  hooked  beak — the  Thunder  Bird. 

After  they  had  satisfied  their  curiosity,  Mr. 
Sturgis  and  Hugh  turned  to  go,  but  Jack  lingered 
behind.  "  Oh,  Hugh,"  he  called,  "  can't  we  take 
this  bundle  with  us  ?  I'm  sure  it  would  be  a  greater 
curiosity,  back  east,  than  the  mummies  from  Egypt 
that  I  have  seen  in  the  museum  there." 

"  Well  now,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  reckon  I'd 
bother  that  fellow,  if  I  was  you.  Fetch  the  pot  and 
that  little  sack  along  with  you,  if  you  want  'em,  and 
then  come  out  here  in  the  sunshine,  and  we'll  talk 
about  it."  They  sat  down  by  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  and  Hugh  and  Mr.  Sturgis  filled  their 
pipes. 

"  Now,  look  here,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  how  would 


WHAT  THE  CAVE  HELD  295 

you  like  it  if  some  day  some  fellow  was  to  come 
along  to  the  place  where  your  great-great-grand, 
father  had  been  buried,  and  should  talk  about  carry- 
ing off  his  bones  for  a  curiosity  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I  don't  suppose  I'd  like  it 
very  much." 

4<  I  don't  expect  you  would,"  said  Hugh,  "  and 
the  Indians  feel  the  same  way  about  their  dead 
grandfathers  that  you  might  feel  about  yours.  You 
don't  want  that  bundle  in  there  for  anything  except 
because  it's  a  curiosity,  and  if  I  was  you,  I  wouldn't 
bother  it.  It  can't  do  no  one  any  harm  for  you  to 
take  these  other  things  ;  they're  real  curiosities,  be- 
cause  they're  the  old-time  things  the  Indians  used 
to  make  and  use  ;  but  I  wouldn't  bother  them  bones. 
Let's  see  what  you've  got." 

They  opened  the  sack  carefully,  but  the  covering 
of  hide  tore  to  pieces  as  they  tried  to  unwrap  it. 
Hugh  spread  out  his  coat,  so  that  nothing  might  be 
lost  and  all  bent  eagerly  forward  to  see  what  the 
relics  might  be.  The  largest  thing  was  a  great  pipe 
made  of  black  carved  stone  ;  then  there  were  eight 
arrow  heads  of  black,  white  and  brown  flint,  finely 
worked,  and  one  smaller  piece  of  flint,  shaped  a  little 
like  an  arrow  head,  but  which  Hugh  said  was  used 
in  painting  skins. 

When  they  were  all  unwrapped,  Hugh  said : 
"  There,  son,  you've  sure  got  some  real  old  relics, 
now.  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  see  a  nicer  lot  of 
arrow  points,  and  I'm  sure  I  never  see  a  pipe  like 
that.  Them  things  is  mighty  old.  1  wouldn't  be  a 


296    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

mite  surprised  if  that  fellow  died  before  America 
was  discovered." 

Jack  was  delighted  with  the  find.  He  still  felt 
that  he  would  like  to  have  the  bundle,  and,  above 
all,  would  like  to  know  what  there  was  inside  of 
it,  but  he  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  better  to  do 
as  Hugh  had  said.  After  they  had  reached  their 
horses,  he  wrapped  the  pot  carefully  up  in  his  coat 
and  tied  it  to  the  horn  of  his  saddle,  and  all  the 
way  home  he  rode  with  his  hand  on  it,  so  that  it 
should  not  be  jarred  and  broken. 

When  they  reached  home  he  spread  his  trophies 
out  on  the  kitchen  table  to  show  to  Mrs.  Carter, 
and  said  to  her,  "  Won't  these  make  a  great  show  in 
my  room  in  New  York?" 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

SWIFTFOOT  IN  NEW  YORK 

AT  last  the  time  approached  when  Mr.  Sturgis 
and  Jack  were  to  leave  the  ranch  and  take  their 
departure  for  the  distant  east.  The  weather  had 
long  been  growing  cooler,  and  was  now  cold.  The 
leaves  of  the  aspens  had  turned  yellow,  and  one  by 
one  had  loosed  their  holds  upon  the  trees,  and 
twirled  slowly  toward  the  ground.  The  bull  elk 
had  ceased  whistling.  The  deer  had  taken  on  their 
winter  coats.  The  lake  was  frozen,  and  the  mi- 
grating ducks  and  geese  had  gone.  Snow  storms 
were  more  frequent,  and  often  the  ground  was 
white  for  days  at  a  time,  until  some  interval  of 
mild  weather  melted  the  snow  again. 

One  day,  some  weeks  after  the  Powells'  last  visit, 
Charley  had  driven  over  in  the  waggon  and  brought 
Jack  a  wolf  puppy,  now  large  and  well  grown.  It 
was  a  great  grey  animal,  heavily  coated,  sleek, 
smooth,  and  in  good  condition,  with  a  long,  pointed 
head,  which  looked  a  little  like  that  of  a  collie 
dog.  Though  perfectly  tame  with  Charley,  the 
wolf  was  shy  of  strangers,  and  at  first,  when  ap- 
proached by  Jack  or  any  of  the  men  at  the  ranch. 

197 


298     JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

seemed  timid,  and  shrank  for  protection  behind 
young  Powell.  Charley  had  foreseen  this,  and  had 
arranged  to  spend  two  or  three  days  at  the  ranch, 
in  order  that  the  wolf  might  learn  to  know  his 
master. 

"  If  I  leave  him  here  strange  to  you,  you  see,"  he 
«aid,  "  he'll  either  leave  you  when  I  go  away,  and 
come  back  to  the  ranch,  or  else  he'll  run  away  and 
become  wild,  and  I  don't  want  to  turn  no  wolves 
loose  on  this  range.  I  tried  what  Hugh  told  me  to 
with  the  pups,  and  now  they're  all  tame  as  the 
dogs.'1 

While  Charley  stayed,  Jack  devoted  his  whole 
time  to  making  friends  with  the  wolf,  and  every. 
body  at  the  ranch  was  as  kind  to  it  as  possible. 
After  a  day  or  two  Hugh  and  Jack  succeeded  in  over- 
coming  the  wolfs  suspicions,  and  had  no  difficulty 
in  calling  it  to  them  and  in  putting  their  hands  on  it. 
It  did  not  like  to  be  held,  and,  at  first,  if  firmly 
grasped,  would  struggle  and  snap,  in  its  effort  to 
escape,  but  the  biting  seemed  to  be  more  a  threat 
than  an  effort  to  really  bite,  and  it  soon  learned 
that  no  harm  was  intended  to  it.  After  the  wolf 
had  come  to  be  no  longer  afraid  of  Jack,  Charley 
neglected  it,  paying  it  no  attention,  while  Jack  fed 
it,  petted  it,  and  played  with  it.  He  was  surprised 
to  find  how  much  like  a  young  dog  it  was,  how 
readily  it  responded  to  his  advances,  and  how  pre- 
cisely it  resembled  a  dog  in  the  way  it  showed 
pleasure,  fear,  or  suspicion.  Hugh  made  for  the 
wolf  a  collar  of  rawhide,  to  which,  at  first,  it  ob- 


SWIFTFOOT  IN  NEW  YORK         299 

jected,  trying  hard  to  rub  it  off  against  the  ground, 
and  to  push  it  from  its  neck  with  its  paws,  but  after 
a  little  it  became  accustomed  to  this.  Two  or 
three  times  Jack  and  Charley  ventured  to  ride  out 
over  the  prairie  with  the  wolf  following  them. 
Their  rides,  though  short,  were  often  fast,  yet  the 
wolf  never  seemed  to  have  any  trouble  in  keeping 
up  with  the  horses,  and  sometimes  when  they  were 
galloping  quite  fast  it  would  trot  along  by  the  side 
of  one  of  them  without  seeming  at  all  hurried. 
From  this,  Jack  called  him  Swiftfoot. 

When  it  came  time  for  Charley  to  go,  he  and 
Jack  parted  with  not  a  little  sadness  on  both 
sides.  They  had  grown  fond  of  each  other  during 
the  summer,  and  both  regretted  Jack's  coming 
absence.  Charley  looked  back  a  good  many  times 
before  the  waggon  disappeared  over  the  hill,  and 
Jack,  who  stood  at  the  ranch  door,  holding  Swift- 
foot  by  his  collar,  did  not  turn  away  until  his  friend 
had  quite  disappeared  from  view.  The  wolf,  too, 
seemed  uneasy  at  the  parting,  and  puzzled  as  well. 
He  looked  at  the  waggon,  and  then  at  Jack,  and 
wagged  his  tail,  and  once  or  twice  struggled  to  get 
away,  as  if  he  wished  to  follow  Charley,  but  he 
soon  forgot  his  doubts,  and  later  in  the  day  took 
great  delight  in  a  game  of  ball  with  Jack  out  on 
the  flat. 

A  few  days  later,  Mr.  Sturgis  and  Jack  left  the 
ranch  for  the  railroad.  Again  Hugh  drove  them 
in,  and  with  the  same  team  of  horses  that  had 
taken  them  out  six  months  before.  Swiftfoot  was 


300    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

placed  in  a  wooden  cage,  immediately  behind  the 
seat  of  the  waggon,  where  he  would  be  close  to 
Jack,  who  petted  and  talked  to  him  until  he  had 
become  a  little  used  to  his  strange  surroundings 
and  to  the  motion  of  the  waggon. 

When  the  railroad  station  was  reached,  quite  a 
crowd  gathered  on  the  platform  to  inspect  Swift- 
foot,  but  before  long  the  train  pulled  in,  and  the 
crate  holding  the  wolf  was  put  in  the  baggage  car. 
The  train  had  scarcely  started  before  Jack,  who 
was  anxious  about  his  pet,  proposed  to  his  uncle 
that  they  should  go  forward  and  see  how  the  wolf 
was  getting  along,  and  they  did  so.  The  baggage 
master  seemed  very  glad  to  see  them.  He  said  to 
Mr.  Sturgis,  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  car :  "  See 
here,  partner,  I  don't  like  that  crate  you  put  aboard 
here.  'Pears  to  me  it's  mighty  flimsy,  and  if  that 
animal  in  there  takes  a  notion  to  break  out,  he 
might  eat  me  up.  I'm  afraid  of  him." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "  he  can't  get  out,  and 
if  he  could,  he  wouldn't  hurt  you.  Look  over 
there,"  and  he  pointed  to  Jack,  who  was  sitting  on 
the  crate,  talking  to  Swiftfoot,  who  had  his  nose 
through  the  bars,  licking  Jack's  hand,  and  was  beat- 
ing a  rapid  tattoo  on  the  sides  of  the  crate  with  his 
wagging  tail. 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Will!"  called  Jack,  "can't  I  let  him 
out  ?  He's  awful  frightened  in  here,  and  I  think  if 
he  had  a  chance  to  run  up  and  down  the  car  a  few 
times,  and  to  make  friends  with  the  baggage  master, 
he  wouldn't  mind  it  so  much." 


SWIFTFOOT  IN  NEW  YORK         301 

"  Hold  on !  hold  on,  young  fellow !  "  said  the 
baggage-master,  "  I  don't  want  to  make  friends 
with  him.  You  keep  him  behind  them  bars,  and 
we'll  be  just  as  good  friends  as  I  want  to  be." 

"  Oh,  I  wish  you'd  let  me  take  him  out,  just  so 
that  he  can  smell  around.  I'll  put  a  rope  on  him, 
and  won't  let  him  get  away.  Come  up  here  and 
pat  him,  and  see  how  friendly  he  is.  He  was  awful 
scared,  though,  when  I  first  came  in.  He  was  all 
crouched  up  in  one  corner  of  the  box,  and  his  eyes 
were  shining  fearfully.  He  looked  savage." 

"  Why,"  said  the  baggage  master,  who  seemed  to 
be  recovering  his  nerves,  "  he  does  seem  gentle, 
don't  he?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis,  "he's  perfectly  tame. 
We've  had  him  around  the  ranch  there  for  a  long 
time,  but  I  presume  he's  frightened  at  all  the  noise 
and  the  motion.  I  really  think  if  you  would  let  the 
boy  take  him  out  and  show  him  the  inside  of  the 
car,  and  would  try  to  make  friends  with  him  your- 
self, you'd  get  to  like  him.  I'll  make  it  worth  your 
while  if  you  do." 

The  man  went  up  to  the  cage,  and,  after  a  little 
persuasion  by  Jack,  patted  the  head  of  the  wolf, 
which  seemed  grateful  for  attention  and  sympathy 
from  anyone.  Then  he  consented  that  the  crate 
should  be  opened  and  the  wolf  led  about  the  car  by 
Jack,  but  while  this  was  being  done,  he  took  his  seat 
on  top  of  a  tall  pile  of  trunks  which  reached  nearly 
to  the  roof.  Before  long,  however,  he  came  down 
from  there  and  was  petting  the  wolf,  seeming  almost 


302    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

as  much  interested  in  him  as  his  owner,  and  when  at 
length  Jack  put  Swiftfoot  again  in  his  crate,  the 
wolf,  although  howling  after  him,  no  longer  seemed 
terrified,  as  at  first. 

Jack  made  frequent  visits  to  the  baggage  car,  and 
At  each  change  of  baggage  masters,  the  operation  of 
introducing  the  new  one  to  the  wolf  was  repeated. 
So  the  journey  was  made  between  the  West  and  New 
York,  but  before  they  reached  that  city  Mr.  Sturgis 
told  Jack  that  Swiftfoot  was  by  long  odds  the  most 
expensive  piece  of  baggage  that  he  had  ever  carried 
with  him  on  the  road. 

In  the  big  depot  in  New  York,  where  the  train* 
come  hurrying  in,  and  from  which  they  hurry  out, 
where  there  are  always  crowds  of  people  going,  and 
other  crowds  coming,  and  others,  still,  waiting  for 
the  arrival  of  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Danvers  stood 
watching  the  passengers  that  were  walking  out  from 
the  nine-forty  express. 

"  They  ought  to  have  come  before  this,  John," 
said  Mrs.  Danvers.  "  Do  you  think  they  could  have 
missed  the  train  ?  " 

"  Wait  a  little ; "  said  her  husband ;  "  there  come 
some  more  people.*' 

Far  down  the  platform  they  could  see  a  tall  man 
hurrying  along,  and  by  his  side  a  well  grown  boy, 
leading  an  enormous  grey  dog. 

61  That  looks  like  Will,  but  it  can't  be  he,  for  that 
isn't  Johnny  with  him,"  said  Mrs.  Danvers. 

"  No,"  said  her  husband,  "  that  isn't  our  boy." 


SWIFTFOOT  IN  NEW  YORK         303 

They  continued  to  watch  the  distant  people  as 
they  approached,  but  Mrs.  Danvers  did  not  see  her 
boy.  Suddenly,  she  was  half  crushed  by  a  vigorous 
embrace,  and  turning,  saw  beside  her,  her  son,  but  a 
very  different  son  from  him  who  had  left  her  in  the 
spring.  Then,  he  had  been  a  little  fellow  ;  now,  he 
seemed  to  her  a  young  man.  Then,  he  was  white, 
slender  and  listless ;  now,  he  was  brown,  broad- 
shouldered  and  boisterous.  By  his  side  stood  a 
great  grey  dog,  with  lowered  head  and  tail,  looking 
up  with  suspicious  eyes  at  the  hurrying  crowds 
about  him. 

"  Why,  Johnny,  Johnny,"  said  his  mother,  "  can 
this  be  you?  It  isn't;  I  am  sure  it  isn't.  Will 
Sturgis,  what  have  you  done  ?  I  want  my  boy 
again.  You  have  brought  me  a  big  bear." 

Jack's  father  was  hardly  less  astonished  and  de- 
lighted, but  he  showed  less  excitement. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Sturgis  to  his  sister,  "  I  have 
brought  you  back  a  very  different  boy  from  the  one 
I  took  away.  I  think  after  you  have  had  a  chance 
to  see  him,  and  to  talk  with  him,  you  will  find  that 
he  is  a  better  boy  all  around.  In  fact,  I  think  I  can 
say  that  when  Jack  left  here  six  months  ago  he 
stopped  being  a  boy  and  began  to  be  a  man." 

"  What  is  that  enormous  creature  you  have  there, 
Johnny?" 

"  Why,  mother,  that's  Swiftfoot,  my  tame  wolf. 
He  s  as  gentle  as  can  be,  and  I  expect  you'll  find  him 
a  real  good  house  dog." 

"  Come  along,"  said  Mr.  Danvers ;  "  let  us  walk 


3<H    JACK,  THE  YOUNG  RANCHMAN 

home.  The  night  is  fine,  and  I  hardly  thought  it 
worth  while  to  have  the  carriage  here.  Bring  your 
checks  along  and  we'll  send  up  for  the  baggage  right 
away." 

Jack  and  his  mother  found  the  walk  home  a  very 
short  one.  Mrs.  Danvers  took  her  son's  arm  and 
leaned  on  it,  while  Jack  carried  his  rifle  and  led 
Swiftfoot  with  the  other  hand.  He  was  happy  to 
see  his  mother  again,  and  proud  to  be  leading  his 
wolf  through  New  York  streets.  He  thought  what 
fun  it  would  be  to  show  Swiftfoot  to  his  old  school- 
mates here,  none  of  whom  had  ever  seen  a  wolf,  and 
of  how  much  he  would  have  to  tell  them  of  the 
western  life,  about  which  they  knew  nothing. 

When  they  reached  the  house,  Aunt  Hannah  was 
lying  in  wait  to  bid  her  boy  welcome.  She  had 
nursed  him  from  his  tiniest  babyhood,  and  he  was 
not  surprised  to  have  her  throw  her  arms  around 
him  and  kiss  him,  while  tears  of  gladness  ran  down 
her  cheeks.  After  a  moment  of  congratulation  from 
her,  he  dragged  Swiftfoot  forward,  and  said,  "  Here 
Hannah,  is  a  new  friend  that  I  want  you  to  like. 
It's  Swiftfoot,  my  tame  wolf." 

"  A  wolf ! "  shrieked  Hannah.  "  Oh,  lordy  ! "  And 
she  flew  through  the  dining-room  and  slammed  the 
pantry  door  behind  her. 


THE   END. 


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